iillijillliiliiiiPiii 


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IJ5U 


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ANTI-TOBACCO. 

By  ABIEL  abbot  LIVERMORE. 


WITH 


A    LECTURE    ON    TOBACCO. 

By  rev.  RUSSELL  LANT  CARPENTER. 


AND 


ON   THE   USE   OF   TOBACCO. 

By  G.   F.   witter,  M.D. 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS     BROTHERS. 

1883. 


Copyright,  1883, 
By  Roberts  Brothers. 


(JTambrttige : 

PRINTED     BY    JOHK     WILSON    AND    SON, 
UNIVERSITY    PRESS. 


HV 


^ 


TC  L  ^j 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Anti-Tobacco 7 

A  Lecture  on  Tobacco 37 

Tobacco  and  its  Effects 'j2> 

Appendix 115 


550096 


ANTI-TOBACCO. 

By   ABIEL    abbot    LIVERMORE, 


THE    SUBSTANCE   OF  AN  ADDRESS   BEFORE   THE 
MEADVILLE   TEMPERANCE    UNION^ 

January  29,  1882. 


ANTI-TOBACCO. 


3j<KC 


T  T  is  a  legal  proverb  that  "  Possession  is  nine  points  in 
-'-  the  law."  Judging  by  this  standard,  he  must  be  a 
daring  innovator  who  would  venture  to  attack  the  well- 
nigh  universal  habit  of  using  tobacco,  by  chewing,  smoking, 
or  snuffing.  We  have  only  to  pass  through  the  streets  of 
our  cities  and  villages,  and  see  the  numerous  shops  devoted 
to  the  traffic,  or  witness  the  smokers  of  pipes,  cigars,  or 
cigarettes  in  public  places,  and  on  the  routes  of  travel,  — 
the  uncleanliness  of  cars  and  steamers,  —  to  be  assured 
that  if  universality  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  merit  of 
any  habit  or  practice,  the  use  of  the  weed  is  estabhshed 
beyond  the  possibility  of  overthrow. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  in  this  age,  —  which  tests  every- 
thing, however  settled  in  the  usages  or  opinions  of  society, 
or  supported  by  popular  favor,  and  rejects  whatever  con- 
flicts with  truth  and  the  welfare  of  mankind,  —  we  are 
encouraged  to  submit  even  this  widespread  custom  to  the 
criterion  of  science  and  common-sense,  not  to  say  of 
moral  principle. 

One  of  the  most  marvellous  chapters  of  human  history 
is  that  which  relates  how  tobacco   has  been  introduced 


8  ANTI-TOBACCO. 


among  the  articles  of  trade  and  commerce,  and  has  sub- 
sidized both  savage  and  civilized  nations  and  tribes  to  its 
indulgence,  and  is  still  extending  its  triumphs. 

To  attack  it  seems  as  idle  as  to  assault  Gibraltar  with  a 
flight  of  Indian  arrows.  But  we  remember  that  most  of 
the  gigantic  evils  that  have  afflicted  humanity  —  such  as 
human  sacrifices,  idolatry,  torture  of  witnesses  and  crimi- 
nals, the  persecution  of  witches,  intemperance,  polygamy, 
slavery  and  the  slave-trade,  or  war  —  could,  with  equal  or 
greater  assurance,  claim  exemption  from  criticism  or  re- 
buke on  the  ground  of  their  antiquity  and  their  univer- 
sality. Yet  all  these  abominations  now  lie  more  or  less 
under  the  condemnation  of  the  enlightened  sentiment  of 
Christendom,  and  their  dark  shadows  are  passing  away 
before  the  rising  light  of  a  nobler  and  purer  civilization. 

Derivation  of  the  Word. 

The  origin  of  the  word  tobacco  is  doubtful.  Some 
trace  it  to  a  Carib  term,  tabacos,  signifying  a  pipe;  others 
to  Tabacco,  a  province  of  Yucatan ;  others  to  Tabagos,  an 
island  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  or  to  Tabasco,  one  in  the 
Gulf  of  Florida. 

Customs  of  its  Use, 

The  plant,  as  grown  in  different  countries  and  climates, 
has  several  species  or  varieties,  though  it  possesses  com- 
mon properties.  In  Asia  it  appears  to  have  been  used 
from  a  remote  antiquity,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  ancient 
sculptured  pipes,  similar  to  those  still  employed  in  China. 
In  America  its  use  is  traced  back  to  the  mound-builders, 


ANTI-TOBACCO. 


whoever  they  were,  and  other  prehistoric  races,  as  is 
demonstrated  by  their  remains  and  monuments.  When 
Columbus,  in  1492,  discovered  America,  or  the  adjacent 
islands,  he  found  the  natives  puffing  tobacco-smoke  from 
their  mouths  and  nostrils,  and  inhaling  snuft'  through 
hollow  canes.  The  depravity  of  chewing  appears  to  have 
been  reserved  to  the  refinement  of  a  later  age,  and  a 
people  boasting  of  its  superior  intelligence  and  civiliza- 
tion. Probably  the  sailors  of  the  great  discoverer  carried 
home  the  habit  to  Southern  Europe.  While  Sir  "W^alter 
Raleigh,  at  a  later  period,  has  the  questionable  honor  of 
introducing  it  into  England. 

Commerce  in  Tobacco. 

Thus  getting  a  foothold  in  Europe,  the  spread  and  ex- 
tent of  the  growth  and  employment  of  tobacco,  as  a  luxury 
and  as  an  article  of  trade,  have  gone  on  with  astonishing 
rapidity.  King  Tobacco  rivals  the  other  royal  powers  of 
cotton,  corn,  wheat,  hemp,  and  sugar,  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing products  of  the  earth,  and  one  of  the  main  staples  of 
trade  and  commerce. 

Six  hundred  thousand  acres  in  the  United  States  are 
devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  tobacco.  The  "  Pall  Mall 
Gazette,"  of  June  16, 187 1,  reports  the  increase  of  the  con- 
sumption in  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  from 
1841  to  1878,  to  be  25,642,469  pounds  weight,  or  an  in- 
crease of  from  thirteen  and  three  fourths  ounces  to  one 
pound  and  seven  ounces  to  each  person  of  the  popula- 
tion. The  "  Dublin  University  Magazine  "  estimates  the 
tobacco  bill  of  Great  Britain  at  ;^  14,000,000  sterling,  or 
;?  70,000,000. 


I O  ANTI-  TOBA  CCO. 


In  1867  a  German  statistician  estimated  the  production 
of  tobacco  to  be  in 

Kilogrammes. 

Asia • 155,000,000 

Europe 141,000,000 

America 124,000,000 

Africa 12,000,000 

Australia 400,000 

M.  Barral,  who  officially  reported  on  the  specimens  ex- 
hibited at  the  Paris  Exhibition  in  1866,  thus  estimates  the 
amount  grown :  — 

Kilogrammes. 

In  America 75,000,000 

"  Turkey 45,000,000 

"  Cuba 32,000,000 

"  Austria 29,000,000 

"  France 22,802,000 

*'  Germany 18,000,000 

"  Russia 14,000,000 

'*  Brazil 8,000,000 

"  Roumania 2,000,000 

"  Algeria 1,600,000 

"  Italy 1,500,000 

"  Belgium 1,500,000 

M.  Barral  adds  :  "  The  enormous  figures,  which  have 
passed  before  the  reader's  eye,  testify  to  the  facility  with 
which  people  fall  into  excessive  expense,  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  a  pleasure  which  has  for  its  principal  aim  to  kill 
time,  and  stupefy  the  mind." 

Since  1841  the  population  of  Great  Britain  has  increased 
25  per  cent,  but  the  consumption  of  tobacco,  43  per  cent. 
More  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  sovereigns  are  spent 
every  week  on  this  narcotic,  and  that  principally  by  one 
sex. 


ANTI-TOBACCO.  II 


In  the  chief  tobacco-raising  countries  —  England,  Ger- 
many, Holland,  the  United  States,  and  France  —  more 
money  is  devoted  to  this  luxury  than  pays  the  bread  bill. 

According  to  a  calculation  made  by  the  American  Con- 
sul at  Havana,  and  embodied  in  a  report  to  the  Secretary 
of  State,  it  is  computed  that  in  the  island  of  Cuba  alone 
1,460,000,000  of  cigars,  or  ten  a  day  for  each  person  of 
the  population,  are  annually  consumed  by  the  inhabitants 
and  residents  of  that  island. 

Chemical  Properties. 

There  are  about  forty  species  or  varieties  of  tobacco, 
belonging  to  the  genus  Nicotia?ia,  in  the  order  Solanaccea, 
Chemically  analyzed,  tobacco  contains  no  less  than  three 
distinct  and  active  poisons,  nicotine,  nicotianine,  and  em- 
pyreumatic  oil,  besides  certain  minute  portions  of  alkaloids 
and  acids. 

I.  Nicotine,  or  nicotia,  is  a  colorless,  or  nearly  colorless, 
fluid,  when  extracted  from  tobacco,  having  an  exceedingly 
acrid,  burning  taste,  even  when  largely  diluted,  and  very 
irritating  to  the  nostrils.  The  "United  States  Dispensa- 
tory," the  great  authority  with  physicians  and  druggists  of 
all  schools  of  practice,  says  :  "  Nicotine,  in  its  action  on  the 
animal  system,  is  one  of  the  most  virulent  poisons  known. 
A  drop  of  it,  in  the  state  of  concentrated  solution,  was  suf- 
ficient to  destroy  a  dog,  and  small  birds  perished  at  the 
approach  of  a  tube  containing  it.  In  man  it  is  said  to  de- 
stroy life,  in  poisonous  doses,  in  from  two  to  five  minutes." 
The  " New  American  Cyclopedia"  says  :  "  Its  vapor  is  so 
irritating  that  it  is  difficult  to  breathe  in  a  room  in  which  a 
single  drop  has  been  evaporated."     Dr.  Drysdale,  Fellow 


1 2  ANTI-  TOBA  CCO. 


of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of  England,  and  Senior 
Physician  to  the  Metropolitan  Free  Hospital,  says  ("  To- 
bacco, and  the  Diseases  it  produces,"  London,  1880)  : 
"  The  species  of  tobacco  are  closely  related  to  henbane 
{hyoscyamus) ,  to  atropa  belladonna,  and  to  stramonium  — 
poisonous  plants  used  in  medicine.  Tobacco  alone,  of  all 
the  four,  is  scarcely  ever  employed  medicinally  at  the 
present  day,  except,  perhaps,  occasionally,  in  combination 
with  stramonium,  in  spasmodic  asthma.  Its  use  as  an  in- 
jection has  been  abandoned,  as  too  dangerous  to  life.  It  is 
largely  used  by  some  farmers  for  destroying  vermin  infest- 
ing sheep,  and  commonly  also  by  gardeners  for  kilHng  the 
insects  upon  their  plants.  Indeed,  tobacco  is  one  of  the 
most  virulent  of  all  vegetable  poisons."  He  further  says  : 
"  The  constituent  part  of  tobacco,  which  makes  it  at  once 
so  agreeable  and  so  dangerous  to  health,  is  nicotine,  C^g 
Hj^  Ng,  a  liquid  alkaloid  discovered,  so  recently  as  1809, 
by  a  French  chemist.  So  deadly  a  poison  is  nicotine,  that 
one  tenth  of  a  grain  of  it  will  kill  a  middle-sized  dog  in 
three  minutes ;  and  as  the  percentage  of  nicotine  in  dry 
tobacco  varies,  from  two  per  cent  in  Havana  to  about  seven 
per  cent  in  Virginia  tobacco,  it  has  been  calculated  that  in 
a  single  cigar  there  is  enough  nicotine,  if  given  pure,  to  kill 
two  men ;  and  in  about  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  tobacco, 
there  may  be  as  much  as  two  grains  of  this  very  dangerous 
poison.  A  smuggler,  mentioned  by  Namias  to  the  Aca- 
demic des  Sciences,  was  dangerously  poisoned  by  covering 
his  naked  skin  with  tobacco  leaves,  in  order  to  escape 
paying  duty.  The  great  danger  of  chewing  tobacco  is 
thus  at  once  evident.  Taylor  ("  On  Poisons,"  p.  749)  men- 
tions that  the  volatile  vapor  of  tobacco,  given  off  in  the 
process  of  manufacture,  has  been  shown  to  have  an  injuri- 


ANTI-TOBACCO. 


13 


ous  effect  on  tobacco  operatives.  The  first  results  are 
headache,  nausea,  languor,  loss  of  appetite,  and  sleepless- 
ness, followed  by  a  general  disturbance  of  the  health. 
Melsens,  the  chemist,  said  that  he  had  collected  30 
grammes  of  nicotine  from  4.500  grammes  of  tobacco 
smoke,  which  he  conveyed  through  water. 

2.  Nicotianine,  the  second  poisonous  component  of 
tobacco,  is  a  fatty  substance,  having  an  aromatic  and 
somewhat  bitter  taste,  and  is  probably  the  principle  which 
gives  the  article  its  strong  odor.  The  "Dispensatory" 
says  :  "  It  produces  sneezing  when  applied  to  the  nostrils, 
and  a  grain  of  it,  swallowed  by  Hermstadt,  occasioned  gid- 
diness and  nausea."  The  "New  American  Cyclopedia" 
says  :  "  When  taken  internally,  it  gives  rise  to  giddiness, 
nausea,  and  an  inclination  to  vomit."  The  "Scientific 
American  "  speaks  of  tobacco-camphor,  or  nicotianine,  as 
"  a  substance  about  which  not  much  is  known,  —  a  bitter 
extractive  matter." 

3.  Empyreiimatic  oil  is  the  third  substance  which  is 
produced  during  the  burning  of  the  tobacco  in  the  pipe. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  active  poisons  known  to  chemis- 
try. Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  ("  London  Lancet  ")  says  :  "  The 
empyreumatic  oil  of  tobacco  is  produced  by  distillation 
of  that  herb  at  a  temperature  above  that  of  boiling  water. 
One  or  two  drops  of  this  oil  (according  to  the  size  of  the 
animal),  placed  on  the  tongue,  will  kill  a  cat  in  the  course 
of  a  few  minutes  ;  A  certain  quantity  of  this  oil  must 
always  be  circulating  in  the  blood  of  an  habitual  smoker, 
and  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  effects  of  it  on  the  system 
can  be  merely  negative."  "A  single  drop,"  says  the  same 
authority,  "  injected  into  the  rectum  of  a  cat,  occasioned 
death  in  about  five  minutes;   and  double   the  quantity. 


14 


ANTI-TOBACCO. 


administered  in  the  same  manner  to  a  dog,  was  followed 
by  the  same  result." 

Dr.  Drysdale  reports  ("Tobacco,  and  the  Diseases  it  pro- 
duces,") that  "The  analyses  made  by  Eulenberg  and  Vohl 
("Ann.  d'Hygiene,"  April,  1873,  from  "  Vierteljahrsch  fur 
ger.  Med.")  seem  to  controvert  the  old  theory  that  the  inju- 
rious effects  of  tobacco-smoking  are  due  directly  to  the  pres- 
ence of  nicotine  in  the  smoke.  They  attribute  them  rather 
to  the  alkaloids  produced  by  its  decomposition,  and  which 
have  many  similar  physiological  properties.  The  smoke 
from  tobacco,  in  pipes  and  cigars,  was  passed  first  through 
a  solution  of  potassic  hydrate,  and  then  through  one  of 
dilute  sulphuric  acid.  The  former  solution  was  found  to 
contain  a  mixture  of  carbonic,  hydrocyanic,  sulphuric, 
acetic,  formic,  metacetonic,  butyric,  valeric,  and  carbolic 
acids,  creosote,  and  several  hydrocarbons.  The  acid 
solution  contained  rosohc  acid,  ammonia,  traces  of  ethy- 
lamine  and  many  of  the  pyridine  bases,  to  the  last  of 
which  the  injurious  action  is  due.  The  bases  found  were 
pyridine,  C  5  H  5  N,  which  is  more  abundant  in  pipe  than 
in  cigar  smoke  ;  picoline,  C  ^  H  ^N  ;  lutidine,  C  ^H  ^N  ;  col- 
lidine,  C  g  H  ^^  N,  which  is  more  abundant  in  cigar  than 
in  pipe  smoke  ;  parvoline,  C  ^  H  ^3  N  ;  coridine,  C  ^oH  15  N  ; 
rubidme,  C^  H  ^^  N  ;  and  a  residue  corresponding  to  viri- 
dine,  C12H19N.  As  will  be  seen,  the  most  volatile  of 
the  bases,  as  pyridine,  were  most  abundant  in  pipe-smoke, 
while  the  less  volatile,  as  colhdine,  were  most  abundant  in 
cigar- smoke. 

"  The  physiological  action  of  these  bases  was  not  tested 
separately,  but  only  that  of  a  mixture  of  those  which 
volatilize  under  320°  F.,  and  of  those  which  volatilize 
between  320°  F.  and  482°  F.     Both  of  these  sets  of  bases, 


ANTI-  TOBA  ceo.  1 5 


like  nicotine,  produced  contraction  of  the  pupil,  difficult 
respiration,  general  convulsions,  and  death ;  and,  upon 
post  morte77i  examination,  the  respiratory  passages  and 
liings  were  found  congested.  They  do  not  act  as  rapidly 
as  nicotine.  Those  volatile  at  a  low  temperature  were 
more  active  than  those  which  were  only  volatile  at  a  high 
temperature,  which  explains  the  fact  that  more  tobacco 
can  be  smoked  in  the  form  of  cigars  than  in  a  pipe. 

"  The  alkaloids  are  soluble  in  the  mucus  of  the  mouth 
and  air-passages ;  and  thus  smoke  condensed  and  min- 
gled with  water  is  easily  taken  into  the  blood.  Hence, 
when  cigars  or  pipes  are  smoked,  even  out-of-doors,  a 
notable  quantity  of  poison  is  taken  into  the  system.  But, 
when  smoking  takes  place  in  a  small  room,  the  air  taken 
into  the  lungs  also  adds  its  poison  to  the  fluids  of  the  air- 
passages  ;  and  persons  who  remain  in  smoking-rooms, 
even  if  not  themselves  smoking,  cannot  escape  a  certain 
amount  of  poisoning.  Women  who  wait  in  public  bar- 
rooms and  smoking-saloons,  though  not  themselves  smok- 
ing, cannot  avoid  the  poisoning  caused  by  inhaling  smoke 
continually.  Surely  gallantry,  if  not  common  honesty, 
should  suggest  the  practical  inference  from  this  fact." 

General  Effects  of  the  use  of  Tobacco. 

The  results  of  the  use  of  the  weed,  armed  as  all 
chemists  agree  with  some  of  the  most  powerful  and  poi- 
sonous agents  known  to  the  vegetable  world,  have  been 
set  down  in  all  medical  literature  in  fearful  array.  But  in 
vain  has  been  the  warning.  The  habit  of  using  tobacco, 
in  some  form,  becomes  even  stronger  in  its  enslaving 
power  than  that  of  the  indulgence  in  spirituous  liquors,  to 


1 6  A  NTI-  TOBA  ceo. 


which  it  is  closely  allied.  Thick-set,  as  the  path  of  the 
victim  is,  with  dangers  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  he 
rushes  on  regardless  of  consequences,  and  gratifies  the 
unnatural  and  purely  artificial  appetite,  in  spite  of  all 
the  remonstrances  of  an  outraged  constitution,  and  the 
pangs  of  distress  felt  in  every  vital  organ.  He  sophisti- 
cates his  reason  and  common-sense  with  the  deceitful 
pleas  that  the  use  of  tobacco  is  a  quietus  to  the  agitated 
nerves,  a  relief  from  fatigue,  prevents  the  waste  of 
tissues,  and  that  many  smokers  and  chewers  round  out  a 
good  old  age  of  eighty  or  ninety  years.  It  is  true  that 
the  human  system  is  so  wonderfully  constituted,  by  the 
wisdom  and  mercy  of  the  Creator,  that  it  can  stand  a 
great  deal  of  abuse  before  it  finally  succumbs.  Ironclad, 
tobacco-proof,  and  alcohol-proof — some  persons  seem 
to  carry  a  charmed  life,  that  defies  sickness  and  death. 
But  these  are  the  exceptions  that  confirm  the  general 
rule.  Let  no  man,  however  stalwart,  presume  too  much 
on  the  native  strength  of  his  constitution.  To  every  one 
the  day  of  reckoning,  though  long  delayed,  comes  at  last, 
when  all  the  items  that  have  been  registered  in  the  day- 
book are  transferred  to  the  ledger,  and  summarized  in 
one  fatal  bill.  A  lawyer  and  statesman  of  New  York,  just 
deceased,  adds  another  vivid  illustration  to  this  statement. 
He  prided  himself  on  his  ability  to  endure,  freely  exposed 
himself  on  all  occasions,  never  wore  an  overcoat  in  the 
coldest  weather,  always  slept  with  a  window  open,  but  at  last 
dropped  off  suddenly  with  Bright's  disease  of  the  kidneys. 
But,  haply,  it  is  not  always  death  which  is  the  result  of 
our  numerous  and  often  unconscious  violations  of  the 
laws  of  health.  It  is  the  abridgment  and  diminution  of 
life.     It  is  the  gradual  and  almost  imperceptible  depres- 


ANTI-TOBACCO.  1 7 


sion  of  the  vital  energies.  It  is  the  taking  on,  one  after 
another,  of  the  ills  flesh  is  heir  to,  until  a  man  lives  only  a 
half  life,  or  a  quarter  life,  where  God  intended  he  should 
live  a  whole  life.  One  of  the  most  melancholy  of  all  spec- 
tacles is  a  chronic  invalid,  —  one  who  can  neither  live  nor 
die,  and  whose  prayer  might  well  be  that  of  the  Apostle 
who  exclaimed,  "  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death?" 

A  man  in  the  cityj  vexed  and  worried  by  business,  or 
one  worn  down  in  the  country  by  hard  manual  labor,  may 
feel  a  temporary  quieting  of  the  nerves,  or  a  gentle  stim- 
ulus to  the  mental  and  physical  energies,  by  his  pipe  or 
his  glass  ;  but  all,  and  more  than  all,  that  is  gained  in  one 
direction  is  lost  in  another.  Temporary  relief  is  pur- 
chased at  the  fearful  cost  of  a  lasting  blow  to  the  nervous 
system.  The  chief  reason  why  men  in  the  press  and  wear 
of  society  find  their  nerves  so  unstrung  and  shattered,  is 
because  they  have  early  resorted  to  stimulants  and 
narcotics,  in  place  of  the  appropriate  rest  and  nutrition 
which  nature  demands.  They  have  so  far  perverted  the 
instincts  of  nature  that  they  cannot  get  along  except  by 
re-enforcing  themselves  by  artificial  and  injurious  stimu- 
lants and  substitutes,  and  thus  maintaining  a  kind  of 
counterfeit  strength.  A  victim  of  daily  doses  of  rum  and 
tobacco  often  cannot  write  his  name  straight,  until  he  has 
steadied  his  trembling  hand  by  a  glass  of  liquor  or  a 
cigar.  He  is  simply  a  sick  man,  and  does  not  know  it-j 
but  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  he  will  know  it. 

Particular  Diseases  Caused,  by  the  Use  of  Tobacco, 

Professor  Miller,  of  Edinburgh,  says  ("Tobacco,  and  the 
Diseases  it  produces  ")  :  "  As  medical  men,  we  know  that 


1 8  ANTI-  TOBA  ceo. 


smoking  injures  the  whole  organism,  puts  a  man's  stomach 
and  whole  frame  out  of  order ;  but  it  acts  mainly,  as  all 
other  poisons  do,  on  the  nervous  system.  Not  only  is  the 
physical  effect  most  debilitating;  it  tends,  in  plain  lan- 
guage, to  paralysis ;  for  the  cases  are  not  a  few  in  which 
there  is  not  only  an  approach  to  paralysis  in  the  trembling 
of  the  hand,  but  in  the  lower  extremities,  from  no  cause 
on  earth  but  inveterate  smoking.  If  you  get  a  medical 
opinion  in  favor  of  a  pipe,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  man 
who  indulges  in  it.  An  unbiased  and  unprejudiced  opin- 
ion in  favor  of  tobacco  is  yet  to  come.  The  effects  of 
narcotics,  mental  and  bodily,  I  can  fairly  testify  are  nothing 
but  evil.  I  stand  in  a  position  of  giving  an  experienced, 
as  well  as  an  impartial  observation.  I  am  standing  on 
unassailable  ground,  when  I  say  that  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  who  uses  tobacco  unnecessarily,  to  any  appreci- 
able extent,  is  thereby  injuring  himself,  or  herself,  morally, 
mentally,  and  physically,  more  or  less." 

Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  F.  R.  S.,  from  the  result  of  ex- 
periments upon  animals,  tells  us  that  the  poison  acts  by 
destroying  the  functions  of  the  brain.  Many  observers 
on  the  Continent  have  noticed  the  inferior  attainments  of 
students  who  smoke.  Thus,  Dr.  Bertillon  —  the  most 
eminent  writer  of  the  day  on  medical  statistics  — ^  found  in 
1855,  that,  of  the  pupils  then  at  the  Polytechnic  School 
of  Paris,  one  hundred  and  eight  smoked  and  fifty-two 
did  not  smoke.  The  non-smokers  stood  higher,  intel- 
lectually, than  the  smokers.  He  furthermore  found  that 
the  mean  rank  of  the  smokers,  as  compared  with  the  non- 
smokers,  deteriorated,  from  their  entering  to  their  leaving 
the  school. 

The  "  British  and  Foreign  Medico-Chirurgical  Review," 


ANTI-TOBACCO.  1 9 


for  January,  1861,  says  :  "  We  see  with  satisfaction  that  the 
Minister  of  Pubhc  Instruction  of  France  has  issued  a 
circular,  addressed  to  the  directors  of  colleges  and 
schools,  forbidding  the  use  of  tobacco  and  cigars  to 
students." 

Physiological  experiments  have  shown  (Ed.  Smith, 
British  Association,  1864,  &c.)  that  smoking  makes  the 
heart  beat  more  rapidly,  from  the  paralyzing  effects  of 
nicotine  on  minute  vessels  of  the  system,  which  no  longer 
offer  their  usual  resistance  to  the  force-pump  of  the 
circulation.  Nicotine,  as  for  convenience  the  poisoning 
principle  of  tobacco  is  called,  enters  the  body  by  the 
stomach,  the  lungs,  and  by  the  skin;  and  its  effects  are 
uniform  by  whatever  gate  it  enters.  Dr.  Edward  Smith 
found  that  when  his  pulse  was  74  per  minute  before 
smoking,  it  rose,  after  smoking  eleven  minutes,  to  112. 
^^  The  effect  produced  by  tobacco  on  the  heart  is  caused  by 
its  paralyzing  effect  on  the  minute  vessels  of  the  capilla- 
ries. These  being  relaxed  can  no  longer  offer  effectual 
resistance ;  and  the  heart,  freed  from  this  control,  in- 
creases the  rapidity  of  its  strokes.  This  increase  of  the 
heart's  action  results  pardy  also  from  the  paralyzing  effect 
of  the  drug  upon  the  pneumogastric  nerve,  which  supplies 
the  stomach  and  lungs  with  neive  power. 

Dr.  Drysdale  ("  Tobacco,  and  the  Diseases  it  pro- 
duces")  says:  ^'The  influence  of  tobacco  upon  the 
eyesight  is  well  known.  One  of  the  symptoms  produced 
in  acute  poisoning  by  tobacco  is  blindness ;  and  chronic 
poisoning  gives  rise  to  similar  symptoms.  Mackenzie,  of 
Glasgow,  first  noticed  that  male  patients  affected  with  one 
species  of  amaurosis  were  mostly  great  lovers  of  tobacco 
in  some  form. 


20  ANTI-TOBACCO. 


"  Sichel,  of  Paris,  found  some  cases  of  blindness  easily 
cured  by  cessation  from  the  use  of  tobacco.  Hutchinson 
narrated,  before  the  Royal  Medical  and  Chirurgical  Society 
of  London,  thirty-seven  cases  of  a  species  of  amaurosis, 
where  twenty-three  of  the  patients  were  great  smokers; 
and  Wordsworth  has  confirmed  these  views  of  Mackenzie 
and  Hutchinson.  In  one  week  I  saw,  in  1874,  at  the 
Royal  London  Ophthalmic  Hospital,  two  cases  of  tobacco 
amaurosis  in  young  men,  neither  of  whom  had  attained 
the  age  of  thirty.  The  first  had  chewed  continually ;  and 
the  other  smoked  the  enormous  quantity  of  one  ounce  of 
shag  tobacco  daily.  Both  were  completely  and  irretrievably 
blind,  from  this  dangerous  habit.  But  weak  sight  is  also 
commonly  caused  by  snuffing,  as  well  as  by  smoking  and 
chewing.  Tobacco  amaurosis  is  much  commoner  now 
than  it  used  to  be." . 

Mr.  John  Couper,  of  the  Royal  Ophthalmic  Hospital, 
says  that  "  patients  with  tobacco  amaurosis  describe  them- 
selves as  always  living  in  a  dim  light  even  at  noonday." 
Mr.  George  Critchett,  the  great  London  authority  on 
diseases  of  the  eye,  tells  me  that  he  is  constantly  consulted 
by  gentlemen  for  commencing  blindness,  caused  solely  by 
great  smoking.  He  accordingly  condemns  smoking  in 
most  unqualified  terms,  as  most  dangerous  to  human 
health. 

Dr.  Kostral,  physician  to  the  Royal  Factory  of  Tobacco 
at  Iglau  ("Ann.  d'Hygiene,"  published  in  1871),  brought 
before  the  Medical  Society  at  Vienna,  in  18  71,  some  sta- 
tistics relating  to  the  workers  in  that  government  tobacco- 
factory.  ''  There  were  1,942  of  these  workers,  of  ages  from 
thirteen  to  fifty-six.  They  are  only  taken  into  the  factory 
if  they  are  likely  to  live  there  for  twenty  years.     The 


ANTI-  TOBA  ceo.  2 1 


workshops  are  well  arranged  and  ventilated ;  but  during 
their  ten  hours  of  work  the  operatives  are  exposed  to  an 
atmosphere  charged  with  the  dust  of  tobacco  and  the  vapor 
of  nicotine.  This  is  found  to  be  especially  noxious  to  young 
workers  recently  entering,  or  to  those  convalescent  from 
sickness.  Thus  the  majority  of  deaths  among  the  children 
and  work-girls  in  the  first  month  is  attributed  to  narcotic 
poisoning. 

"  Of  a  hundred  boys,  from  twelve  to  sixteen,  who  entered 
the  works,  seventy-two  fell  sick  in  the  first  six  months. 
Their  sickness  lasted  from  two  to  t\venty-eight  days,  and 
consisted  especially  in  congestion  of  the  brain,  different 
nervous  affections,  pains  in  the  region  of  the  heart,  palpi- 
tation, pallor,  inflammation  of  the  stomach,  intestines,  and 
lining  membrane  of  the  eyelids,  with  fever,  lassitude,  cold 
sweats,  want  of  appetite  and  sleeplessness." 

Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson,  F.  R.  S.,  says  "that  smoking 
produces  disturbances  in  the  blood,  causing  undue  fluidity 
and  change  in  the  red  corpuscles ;  in  the  stomach,  giving 
rise  to  debility,  nausea,  and  sickness ;  on  the  heart,  caus- 
ing debihty  of  the  organ  and  irregular  action ;  on  the 
organs  of  sense,  causing  confusion  of  vision,  bright  lines, 
luminous  specks,  and  long  retention  of  images  on  the 
retina ;  with  analogous  symptoms  in  the  ear,  such  as  ina- 
bility to  sharply  define  sounds,  and  the  annoyance  of  a 
sharp  ringing  sound,  like  a  whistle  or  a  bell ;  on  the  mu- 
cous membrane  of  the  mouth,  causing  enlargement  and 
soreness  of  the  tonsils,  —  'smoker's  sore-throat,'  —  red- 
ness, dryness,  and  occasional  peeling  off  of  the  membrane, 
and  either  unnatural  fineness  and  contraction,  or  spongi- 
ness  of  the  gums." 

Dr.  Jolly  (Association  Frangaise  contre  I'Abus  du  Tabac) 


2  2  ANTI-  TOBA  CCO. 


mentions  the  strange  coincidence  of  the  increase  of  paraly- 
sis and  insanity  with  the  ascending  figure  of  the  simulta- 
neous consumption  of  tobacco  and  alcohol  in  France. 
With  regard  to  insanity,  Jolly  alleges  that  French  statistics 
show  that  tobacco  is  a  great  cause  of  that  disease.  Thus, 
in  1830,  when  the  amount  of  tobacco  sold  by  the  French 
government  was  about  11,000,000  kilogrammes,  there 
were  8,000  lunatics  in  France;  and  in  1862,  when 
28,000,000  kilogrammes  were  sold,  there  were  no  less 
than  44,000  lunatics  in  French  asylums.  "  It  is  to  be 
remembered,"  says  Dr.  Jolly,  "  that  the  tobaccos  used  by 
the  Germans  and  other  northern  nations  are  very  poor  in 
nicotine,  as  is  also  the  case  with  the  tobacco  of  Turkey. 
French  tobacco,  such  as  that  grown  in  Lot-et-Garonne, 
contains  sometimes  eight  per  cent  of  nicotine,  and  its  use 
causes  deafness,  anosmia  (loss  of  smell),  amaurosis,  weak 
sight,  and  progressive  palsy.  Virginia  tobacco  (shag,  re- 
turns, &c.)  is  very  strong,  and  contains  about  seven  per 
cent  of  nicotine.  The  English  and  French  working-classes, 
therefore,  consume  very  dangerous  kinds  of  tobacco." 

M.  Decaise  ("Comptes  Rendus," /^;;z^  58,  p.  1017), 
struck  by  the  large  number  of  boys,  aged  from  nine  to 
fifteen  years,  who  smoked,  inquired  into  tlie  connection  of 
tliis  habit  with  the  impairment  of  the  general  health.  His 
observations  were  made  on  thirty-eight  boys ;  and  in 
twenty-seven  of  them  there  were  more  or  less  distinct 
symptoms.  Thus,  in  twenty-two  there  were  various  dis- 
orders of  the  circulation,  anemic  murmurs  in  the  neck, 
palpitation,  dyspepsia,  weakening  of  intellect,  and  more 
or  less  increased  desire  for  strong  drink.  In  three,  the 
pulse  was  intermittent.  Ten  of  the  boys  had  disturbed 
sleep,  and  four  suffered  from  ulceration  of  the  mouth. 


ANTI-TOBACCO.  23 


Eight  of  the  boys  were  of  ages  from  nine  to  twelve  ;  nine- 
teen of  them  from  tweke  to  fifteen. 

Professor  Kirk  ("  Nen-es  and  Narcotics  ")  says  that  "nar- 
cotics, such  as  tobacco,  are  used  because  of  the  delicious 
sense  of  relief  which,  even  upon  the  motor  nerves  being 
relaxed,  steals  over  the  smoker.  You  see  a  man  who  is 
restless  and  yet  wear}^  Though  careworn  or  toihvorn,  he 
seems  as  if  he  could  not  be  still,  but  must  be  moving  in 
one  way  or  another.  There  is  a  state  of  uncomfortable 
irritation  in  his  muscular  system,  or  in  the  motor  nerves 
that  supply  it. 

"  By  means  of  a  narcotic,  such  as  tobacco,  this  irrita- 
tion is  subdued.  The  supply  of  vital  force  from  the 
organic  centres  to  the  motor  nen-es  is  so  much  lessened 
that  the  irritating  movement  in  them  ceases.  This  gives 
a  sense  of  relief  to  the  person  affected,  and  he  fancies 
himself  immensely  benefited.  He  is  not  aware  that  the 
benefit  is  purchased  at  a  very  serious  cost.  He  has  not 
only  lessened  the  supply  of  vital  force  for  the  time  being, 
but  has  done  a  very  consideral^le  amount  of  injury  to  his 
vital  system.  He  has,  in  fact,  poisoned  the  springs  of  life 
within  him.  These  will  not  afterwards  give  out  their  sup- 
ply of  force,  as  they  would  have  done,  had  the  poisonous 
influence  been  withheld. 

"  As  soon  as  these  organic  nen-es  rally  from  the  damp- 
ing effect  of  the  narcotic,  the  irritation  in  the  motor 
system  returns,  and  the  narcotic  is  called  for  anew.  Fresh 
injury  is  now  inflicted  for  the  sake  of  the  relaxed  and 
easy  condition  desired.  This  goes  on  till  the  vital  cen- 
tres, if  at  all  delicate,  totally  fail  to  give  supply  to  the 
motor  ner\''es,  and  the  sore  experience  of  paralysis  begins. 
The  passing  sense  of  ease  and  tranquillity  produced  by 


24 


ANTI-TOBACCO. 


the  poisonous  substance  is,  however,  so  great  that,  even 
when  a  man  knows  he  is  bringing  slowly  upon  himself  such 
a  calamity  as  this,  he  will  go  on  indulging  m  the  so-called 
luxury  of  the  narcotic." 

Indictment  One. 

The  first  indictment,  therefore,  against  tobacco  is,  that 
it  is  a  poison.  It  is  not  food,  and  can  furnish  no  nutriment 
to  build  up  the  tissues  of  the  system,  or  make  amends 
for  its  waste,  or  permanently  energize  its  motive-power. 
It  is  not  a  medicine  that  is  safe  to  use,  except  in  a  few 
critical  cases,  and  that  only  under  experienced  medical 
skill.  As  an  emetic,  a  decoction  of  tobacco  might  expel 
some  active  poisons  from  the  system.  I  knew  of  one 
instance  in  which  it  was  successfully  employed  to  relax 
the  muscles  in  lockjaw.  Habitual  tobacco-users,  under 
whatever  form,  must,  therefore,  be  classed  with  opium, 
hasheesh,  absinthe,  and  alcohol  users,  as  those  who,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  and  in  proportion  to  the  strength 
or  weakness  of  their  constitution,  abridge  the  duration  of 
life,  and  diminish  its  volume  and  capacity,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  a  potent  enemy,  an  active  poison,  into  the  very 
citadel  of  life. 

Indictment  2wo. 

The  next  indictment  against  tobacco  is,  that  it  is  a 
needless  expense.  The  financial  question  is  always  a  moral 
question.  Money  is  a  trust  to  be  used  or  abused.  Morals, 
as  well  as  health  and  Ufe,  are  involved  in  the  use  of  the  lux- 
uries and  indulgences  of  society.     While  the  habitual  use 


ANTI-TOBACCO.  25 


of  tobacco  does  no  good  permanently,  either  to  mind  or 
body. —  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  great  amount  of  evil,  —  it 
drains  the  purse,  empties  the  larder  and  wardrobe,  pauper- 
izes the  home  of  comforts  and  pleasures  and  luxuries 
which  are  innocent,  to  feed  one  monstrous  appetite,  which 
is  deadly  in  its  effects.  The  national  debt  of  the  United 
States  could  be  swept  away  in  four  years  by  turning  upon 
it  this  gulf-stream  of  criminal  self-indulgence  and  need- 
less luxury.  The  money  expended  for  tobacco  in  the 
United  States  would  discharge  all  the  expenses  of  the 
religious  and  educational  institutions.  While  the  latter 
are  engaged  in  building  up  the  life  of  man  and  the 
national  character,  the  former  is  sapping  both  with  an 
unfailing  drain.  Do  we  wonder  that  children  go  ragged, 
houses  unpainted,  windows  broken,  animals  left  to  shift 
for  themselves  in  the  winter's  cold,  shops  bankrupt,  farms 
and  dwellings  mortgaged,  tramps  and  paupers  swelling 
the  list  in  this  fair  and  prosperous  land  of  ours?  It  is 
due,  in  no  small  part,  to  the  tremendous  wastes  which  we 
tolerate,  and  even  excuse,  as  if  they  were  the  necessities 
and  blessings  of  life,  instead  of  its  cancers  —  the  waste  by 
tobacco,  the  waste  by  alcohol,  the  waste  by  gambling,  the 
waste  by  fire,  the  waste  by  war,  by  the  social  evil,  by  crime 
and  ignorance. 

Indict7ne7tt  Three. 

f 

The  use  of  tobacco  leads  directly  to  drinking  spiritu- 
ous liquors.  Tobacco  is  prime  minister  to  alcohol.  The 
pipe  is  first-cousin  to  the  mug.  To  take  away  the  cup 
which  is  in  a  man's  right  hand,  while  he  still  holds  his 
cigar  in  his  left  hand,  is  to  leave  the  work  of  reform  half- 
done.    Chewing  or  smoking  necessitates  salivation ;  saHva- 


26  A  NTI-  TOBA  CCO. 


vation,  thrist ;  thrist,  drinking ;  drinking,  the  dram, —  a  log- 
ical chain  of  iron,  where  every  link  draws  his  fellow.  A 
burning  cigar  or  pipe  heats  the  lips,  dries  the  mouth,  in- 
flames the  mucous  membrane,  parches  the  throat,  and 
demands  relief  by  drinking.  Not  to  supply  the  drain  upon 
the  fluids  of  the  system  would  cause  intolerable  dis- 
tress. But  for  this  want  and  craving,  water,  tea  or  coffee, 
or  soda  would  be  but  a  vapid  drink.  It  must  be  some- 
thing more  strong  and  piquant  —  rum,  gin,  brandy,  or 
whiskey,  or  at  all  events  wine,  beer,  ale,  or  cider.  As  a 
well-nigh  universal  rule,  when  a  boy  begins  to  smoke  or 
chew,  he  begins  to  drink  liquors  of  some  kind.  Nor  is 
the  social  habit  without  its  effect  here.  While  one  treats 
his  boon-companion  to  a  cigar,  his  companion  returns  the 
compliment  by  treating  him  to  a  glass  at  the  bar.  Cigars 
and  liquors  are  sold  and  used  off  the  same  counter,  that 
where  one  is  used,  the  other  may  likewise  be  used,  and 
probably  by  the  same  parties.  Such  is  the  adroit  foresight 
of  the  dram-seller. 

Indictment  Four. 

The  use  of  tobacco  is  an  indignity  to  the  female  sex,  and 
an  outrage  iipoji  the  cofnmon  laws  and  usages  of  politeness. 
I  shall  not  discuss  here  the  question  whether  a  man  can 
be  a  gentleman,  and  smoke  or  chew.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  every  person  conversant  in  society  knows  full  well 
that  the  customs  of  a  truly  polite  and  refined  community 
are  often  set  at  defiance ;  that  the  offensive  spittoon 
corrupts  the  air  of  the  sitting-room  and  parlor ;  that,  worse 
still,  the  floors  of  churches,  court-houses,  cars,  and 
steamers  reek  with  the  filthy  expectorations  of  the  chewer 
or  smoker ;  that  the  sweet  air  of  heaven,  in  which  all  have 


ANTI-  TOBA  ceo.  2  / 


a  common  right  and  interest,  is  blighted  by  the  trail  of 
smoke  which  the  cigar  or  pipe  leaves  behind  it ;  that  the 
dinner-tables  of  college  commencements  or  private  fes- 
tivity are  enveloped  in  clouds  of  poisonous  and  acrid 
smoke,  painful  to  every  sense,  except  to  those  whose 
senses  have  by  long  usage  been  dragooned  into  calling 
bitter  sweet,  and  sweet  bitter.  Even  the  sacred  haunts  of 
the  Muses,  the  libraries  of  the  learned,  the  parlors  of 
elegant  life,  as  well  as  the  exchanges  of  business,  and  the 
offices  of  trade  and  finance,  are  blasted  by  these  fumes  of 
the  weed,  which  are  bad  enough  when  fresh  from  the 
lighted  cigar,  but  which,  grown  stale,  are  the  very  opposite 
to  airs  from  Araby  the  blest. 

It  is  true  some  w^omen  of  old  smoked  their  pipes,  and 
some  still  use  the  more  dangerous  cigarette ;  but  as  a 
general  custom  women  are  exempt  from  the  evil.  They 
detest  and  loathe  it  in  their  fathers,  husbands,  and  sons,  as 
a  general  thing,  though  some  may  be  so  weak  when  the 
point-blank  question  is  put  to  them,  whether  they  like  the 
smoke  of  a  cigar  or  not,  as  to  say,  contrary  to  their  real 
feeling,  that  they  do,  while  at  heart  they  hate  it.  How 
can  pure  and  refined  women  endure  the  presence  of 
men,  such  as  we  meet  with  every  day  in  the  streets  and 
cars  and  stores,  whose  breath  is  a  stench,  whose  lips  are 
coated  over  with  the  remains  of  the  quid,  and  whose 
clothing  exhales  the  stale  effluvia  of  countless  dead  cigars  ! 
Yet  such  are  the  companions  which  King  Tobacco  furnishes 
to  the  scenes  of  private  life  —  to  the  parlor,  the  table,  the 
bridal-chamber,  the  sick-room  ;  and  to  the  public  assembly 
—  the  church,  the  sociable,  the  ball-room,  and  the  concert- 
hall  !  Can  we  think  it  strange  that  some  of  the  most 
eloquent  voices  lifted  up  against  this  widespread   social 


28  ANTI-TOBACCO. 


abuse  should  be  those  of  noble  women,  whose  senses 
have  been  outraged,  whose  health  has  been  undermined 
whose  children  have  been  born  with  a  degenerated 
constitution,  because  the  lords  of  creation  have  been 
pleased  to  indulge  from  boyhood  in  an  unhealthful  and 
repulsive  habit? 

Physicians  very  generally  agree  in  the  opinion  that 
much  of  the  positive  illness,  and  still  more  of  the 
lingering  invalidism  of  women,  are  chargeable  upon  the 
tobacco  pestilence.  Their  more  sensitive  frames  and 
dehcate  constitutions  peculiarly  expose  them  to  this 
noxious  influence.  While  the  hardships  and  deprivations 
of  poverty, —  immensely  enhanced  by  the  waste  of  means 
and  money  thus  engendered, — the  curse  of  the  dramshop, 
the  fire-water,  and  the  fire-pipe,  inflicted  on  the  mothers, 
the  wives,  the  daughters,  and  sisters  of  the  land,  are 
offences  that  cry  to  heaven. 

Indictment  Five, 

The  use  of  tobacco  becomes  a7i  ejtslaving  habit.  Like 
the  deadly  boa-constrictor,  when  it  once  winds  its  fatal 
folds  around  its  victim,  it  can  scarcely  ever  be  shaken 
off;  and  even  when  it  is,  it  always  lies  in  wait  to  steal  back 
and  regain  its  hold  upon  its  subject  at  the  opportune 
moment.  Drunkenness  itself  is  not  more  a  passion  than 
chewing  and  smoking.  He  who  has  once  formed  the 
habit  is  ever  after  a  slave,  and  has  a  master  who  says, 
"  Come,"  and  he  cometh,  and  "  Go,"  and  he  goeth.  The 
victim  has  parted  with  his  manly  freedom  forever.  He 
has  a  chain,  as  much  as  the  Algerine  captive,  round  his 
body  and  round  his  soul.     The  first  cry,  so  jailers  say, 


A  NTI-  TOBA  ceo.  2  9 


v\^hich  arrested  criminals  utter  after  their  imprisonment, 
is  for  tobacco,  and  the  second  is  for  ejuploynufit. 
How  often  and  painfully  the  slaves  of  this  degrading 
habit  desire  to  break  their  chains,  but  —  alas,  in  vain  !  It 
has  a  fascination  and  compulsion  which  they  cannot 
resist.  They  would  give  worlds  to  throw  off  the  hateful 
bondage,  and  be  as  free  as  when  they  came  from  their 
mothers'  arms ;  but  they  have  sold  their  birtliright,  not 
even  for  an  honest  mess  of  pottage,  but  for  a  smoke,  for 
an  unsubstantial  puff,  for  the  titillation  of  a  few  morbid 
ner\^es,  that  yields  no  nourishment  to  the  system,  no 
strength,  no  health  —  but,  on  the  other  hand,  entails 
weakness,  morbidness,  disease,  expense,  sickness,  and 
haply,  death,  and,  worse  than  all,  opens  the  door  to 
a  throng  of  temptations. 

Indictment  Six. 

The  tobacco  plague  is  a  perversion  of  the  gifts  of  God, 
and  turns  his  blessings  into  curses.  As  a  medicine,  as  a 
poison,  it  may  have,  in  rare  instances,  its  place  and  its 
use,  as  alcohol,  as  arsenic  and  other  potent  poisons  have, — 
but  as  an  article  of  daily  and  universal  indulgence,  never. 
Its  cultivation  exhausts  the  soil  more  than  almost  any 
other  crop.  It  subsidizes  the  commerce  of  the  world  as 
opium  does,  as  hquors  do,  to  enslave  and  impoverish 
mankind.  It  absorbs  a  vast  amount  of  human  labor  and 
capital,  to  load  the  shoulders  of  men  with  new  burdens, 
grievous  to  be  borne,  and  to  implant  in  the  human  frame 
pains  and  diseases  not  native  to  our  race.  It  cultivates 
selfishness  of  character,  self-indulgence,  absorption  in 
one's  o^\^l  pleasure,  and  disregard  of  the  feelings  and 


3  O  A  NTI-  TOE  A  CCO. 


comfort  of  others.  The  finer  and  nobler  qualities  of 
character  perish  under  the  predominance  of  a  habit 
which  steadily  caters  to  one's  own  gratification,  regardless 
of  what  others  think  or  feel.  A  civilization  given  over 
to  tobacco  and  spirituous  liquors,  as  ours  largely  is,  never 
can  ripen  and  refine  those  traits  which,  when  aggregated 
and  multipUed,  will  constitute  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
the  earth. 

Ifididment  Seven. 

But  the  evil  of  evils  of  this  deleterious  habit  is  the 
deterioration  which  it  causes  to  the  successive  generations 
of  the  human  race.  If  the  habit  let  go  its  victim  at  the 
grave,  and  that  was  the  end-all  of  its  malign  influence,  we 
could  look  with  more  complacency  on  its  evil  conse- 
quences. But  that  is  far  from  being  the  fact.  The  well- 
nigh  unanimous  testimony  of  medical  and  scientific 
authorities  is,  that  the  children  of  parents  addicted  to 
the  use  of  tobacco  inherit  a  weakened  or  diseased  con- 
stitution, and  are  exposed  to  physical  penalties  from 
which  other,  more  favored  children  are  exempt. 

In  an  article  in  the  "  Dublin  University  Magazine,"  the 
authority  of  Herbert  Spencer,  Dr.  Rumsey,  and  Dr.  Mor- 
gan is  quoted  in  support  of  the  position  that  the  stamina 
of  the  town  populations  in  England  has  deteriorated ;  and 
among  other  causes,  the  present  evil  is  cited.  "  It  would 
be  foolish,"  says  the  article,  "  to  attribute  this  lowering  of 
physical  stamina  to  the  sole  influence  of  tobacco.  The 
causes  which  have  produced  this  result  are  no  doubt 
manifold  and  complex ;  but  for  the  reasons  we  shall 
adduce,  we  think  it  would  be  equally  foolish  to  say  that 
the  Indian  weed  had  no  share  in  it.  .  .  .  Yet  fashion  is 


A  NTI-  TOBA  ceo.  3 1 


SO  strong,  that  this  custom  is  increasing,  and  one  who 
walks  through  the  streets  of  a  city  may  see  that  it  is 
no  longer  confined  to  men,  but  is  daily  becoming  more 
common  amongst  boys."  .  .  .  There  is  not  a  solitary 
physician  who  will  contradict  the  statement,  that  these 
young  smokers  are  inflicting  irreparable  injury  upon  their 
constitutions,  are  poisoning  the  very  springs  of  life,  and 
will  transmit  to  their  descendants  weaker  bodies  and 
weaker  brains. 

"  Every  medical  man  will  testify  that  this  juvenile  smok- 
ing is  an  unmixed  evil,  detrimental  alike  to  body  and 
mind,  and  pointing  inevitably  to  racial  degeneracy." 

Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  ("  London  Lancet  ")  asks  :  "What 
will  be  the  result  if  this  habit  be  continued  by  future  gene- 
rations ?  It  is  but  too  true  that  the  sins  of  the  fathers  are 
visited  upon  their  children.  We  may  here  take  warning 
from  the  fate  of  the  Red  Indians  of  America.  An  intelli- 
gent American  physician  gives  the  following  explanation 
of  the  gradual  extinction  of  this  remarkable  people.  One 
generation  of  them  became  addicted  to  the  use  of  the 
fire-water.  They  have  a  degenerate  and  comparatively 
imbecile  progeny,  who  indulge  in  the  same  vicious  habit 
with  their  parents.  Their  progeny  is  still  more  degene- 
rate ;  and,  after  a  very  few  generations,  the  races  cease  alto- 
gether. We  may  also  take  warning  from  the  history  of 
another  nation,  who,  some  few  centuries  ago,  while  following 
the  banners  of  Solyman  the  Magnificent,  were  the  ter- 
ror of  Christendom,  but  who  since  then,  having  become 
more  addicted  to  tobacco -smoking  than  any  of  the  Euro- 
pean nations,  are  now  the  lazy  and  lethargic  Turks,  held 
in  contempt  by  all  civilized  communities." 

The    "  Dubhn   University  Magazine,"  on   the   Tobacco 


32  ANTI-TOBACCO. 


Question,  further  says  :  "  All  medical  men  agree  that  all 
smoking  by  the  young  is  excess,  and  is  the  sure 
forerunner  of  dyspeptic  horrors.  It  is  probably  the 
greatest  source  of  physical  evil  that  the  next  generation 
will  have  to  lament ;  for  its  witcheries  are  so  seductive 
that  the  victim  is  willing  to  attribute  to  any  cause,  rather 
than  the  true  one,  the  mischief  which  it  is  working  on  his 
constitution.  The  common  seqiielce  —  the  shaking  hand 
and  palpitating  heart,  the  impaired  digestion,  the  inter- 
mittent pulse  —  are  complacently  ascribed  to  overwork,  to 
the  railway  speed  at  which  we  live,  to  the  incessant  de- 
mands made  upon  our  powers  by  a  world  which  is  '  too 
much  with  us  for  resistance  to  importunities  that  never 
cease.'  Like  father  like  son.  The  fathers  have  eaten 
sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge. 
The  indulgence  in  tobacco  by  our  youth  and  young  men 
will  affect  not  only  themselves,  but  the  future  race  of  Eng- 
land. Fortunately  for  us,  it  is  a  vice  almost  entirely  mas- 
culine. If  the  daughters  of  England  were  to  commence 
weakening  their  vital  forces  by  the  use  of  nicotine,  we 
should  find  the  children  of  another  generation  with  a 
hereditary  taste  for  poison,  and  a  diminished  power  of 
resisting  its  inroads ;  they  would  be  unhealthy,  dyspeptic, 
and  nervous." 

Dr.  Richardson  says  :  "  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  if  a 
community  of  both  sexes,  whose  progenitors  were  finely 
formed  and  powerful,  were  to  be  trained  to  the  early 
practice  of  smoking,  and  if  marriage  were  confined  to 
the  smokers,  an  apparently  new  and  a  physically  inferior 
race  of  men  and  women  would  be  bred  up." 


ANTI-TOBACCO.  33 


Condusioft. 

We  thus  see  that  the  dangers  to  health  and  life,  to 
character  and  prosperity,  to  happiness  and  the  purposes  of 
human  existence,  are  such  that  no  man  can  with  safety 
abandon  himself  to  the  weed  in  any  of  its  fashionable 
forms  of  use.  The  testimony  of  the  scientist,  the  physi- 
cian, the  moralist,  and  the  patriot,  is  nearly  unanimous 
against  smoking  and  chewing.  The  tobacco  pest  has 
acquired  such  enormous  proportions  in  all  civihzed 
communities  that  it  has  awakened  the  anxiety  of  every 
disinterested  lover  of  his  race.  Societies  are  organized 
in  Great  Britain  and  America  to  stem  the  growing  evil. 
The  medical  profession  are  alarmed  at  the  inroads  made 
by  this  insidious  narcotic  upon  the  stamina  of  the  rising 
generation.  Numerous  publications  are  issued  in  behalf 
of  reform.  And  as  every  other  gigantic  evil  which  has 
threatened  the  stability  and  peace  of  modern  civilization 
has -gone  do^vn  before  the  rising  intelligence  and  moral  sen- 
timent of  the  age,  we  may  rationally  hope  that  this  cancer 
upon  the  health  of  the  body  politic  and  social  will  be 
exterminated.  Meantime  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every 
one,  conscious  of  the  truth  upon  this  subject,  to  bring 
first  his  own  conduct  into  harmony  with  his  convictions ; 
and  in  the  next  place  to  seek  to  establish  the  same 
convictions,  and  promote  the  same  conduct,  in  society 
at  large.  It  is  the  noble  sentiment  of  Dr.  Willard 
Parker :  "  I  do  not  place  my  individual  self  in  opposition 
to  tobacco ;  but  science,  in  the  form  of  physiology  and 
hygiene,  is  opposed  to  it  —  and  science  is  the  expression 
of  God's  will  in  the  government  of  his  work  in  the 
universe."  3 


A   LECTURE   ON   TOBACCO. 

BY 

RUSSELL   LANT  CARPENTER,   B.A. 


DELIVERED  BEFORE    THE    MAYOR    AND   PEOPLE 
OF  B  RID  PORT,  ENGLAND. 


A   LECTURE   ON   TOBACCO. 


Mr.  Mayor  and  Friends  : 

T  T  might  seem  a  trivial  subject  on  which  to  lecture  — 
-^  a  weed.  But  tobacco  claims  to  be  the  weed,  just  as 
the  trade  in  intoxicants  claims  to  be  the  trade ;  and  the 
weed,  like  the  trade,  is  of  great  importance  to  the  public 
revenue  and  affects  the  national  character.  The  customs 
paid  on  tobacco,  in  the  year  ending  March  31,  188 1, 
amounted  to  ;^8,658,947;  so  that,  if  this  luxury  is  an 
innocent  one,  it  may  be  viewed  with  complacency.  The 
sale  of  it  gave  some  employment  to  303,816  dealers,  who 
paid  ;£79,893  for  the  privilege, — to  say  nothing  of  the 
thousands  engaged  in  597  manufactories.  If,  then,  it  is 
attacked,  there  is  a  great  host  to  defend  it.  IMuch  has 
been  written  respecting  it ;  but  I  am  not  aware  that  either 
its  merits  or  demerits  have  met  with  any  systematic 
examination  in  Bridport.  Like  alcohol  it  is  an  intoxicant, 
or  poison  ;  but  while  Temperance  organizations  have  been 
active  in  assailing  hquid  intoxicants,  they  have  left  intoxi- 
cating fumes  pretty  much  to  themselves.  In  this  country, 
at  least,  far  more  poverty  and  crime  are  chargeable  on 
drink  than  on  smoke ;  and  those  who  think  it  too  much 


38  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

to  ask  that  a  man  should  give  up  two  bad  habits  at  once 
have  let  the  reformed  drunkard  smoke  his  pipe  in  peace. 
Many  even  suppose  that  smokers  are  less  likely  to  drink, 
and  therefore  the  habit  is  often  encouraged  in  Temperance 
coffee-houses.  On  this  point  we  may  express  an  opinion 
by-and-by. 

If  there  is  truth  in  a  quarter  of  what  has  been  said 
of  the  bad  effects  of  tobacco,  it  seems  strange  that  those 
whose  calling  it  is  to  be  "watchmen"  and  to  "warn  the 
people,"  have  been  so  silent  respecting  it  in  the  pulpit. 
This  reticence  may  partly  arise  from  our  conventional 
notions.  Wi?te,  strong  drink,  drunke7itiess,  &c.,  are 
"  Scripture  words."  We  read  denunciations  of  them  in  our 
devotional  services ;  but  those  who  think  more  of  the 
letter  than  of  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  deem  it  unscriptural 
and  undignified,  if  not  rather  profane,  to  preach  about 
tobacco  !  Its  triviality  is  its  safeguard ;  there  is  levity  in 
smoke.  How  can  you  fight  with  a  cloud  or  a  puff?  And 
if  it  is  treated  seriously,  what  refined  language  can 
fully  deal  with  a  habit  which,  in  itself  or  its  results,  is 
often  so  filthy?  Many,  therefore,  avoid  the  subject 
because  they  do  not  know  how  to  speak  upon  it  without 
causing  more  displeasure  than  benefit ;  while  others  are 
already  slaves  to  the  habit,  and  have  no  desire  to  question 
its  propriety  or  expose  its  abuses. 

Meanwhile  the  weed  keeps  on  growing.  While  less 
tobacco  is  taken  in  the  form  of  snuff,  there  has  been  a 
great  increase  of  smoking.  For  this,  three  reasons  may 
be  given,  (i)  We  have  had  far  more  intercourse  than 
formerly  with  smoking  nations,  especially  the  Germans. 
(2)  The  facilities  for  outdoor  smoking  are  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  invention  of  lucifers ;   in  my  early  days 


A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  39 

those  who  wanted  to  strike  a  light  had  to  use  a  piece 
of  steel,  a  piece  of  flint,  and  a  piece  of  tinder,  besides 
a  brimstone  match.  And  (3)  The  more  prosperous  condi- 
tion of  the  country  has  been  accompanied  by  greater 
indulgence  in  luxuries.  Our  liquor  bill,  as  well  as  our 
tobacco  bill,  has  about  doubled  within  the  last  forty  years. 
But  while  the  consumption  of  intoxicating  drinks  has 
increased,  there  is  also  an  increasing  conviction  of  the 
evils  resulting  from  them,  which  has  led,  in  thousands 
of  instances,  to  their  disuse ;  and  those  who  can  expose 
the  injurious  effects  of  narcotics  ought  not  to  be  silent  in 
despair.  It  is  my  intention  to  say  a  little  on  the  nature  of 
tobacco,  and  to  consider  its  influence  on  health,  on 
property,  on  freedom,  and  on  morality.  Viewing  it  thus 
seriously,  I  should  regard  my  theme  as  quite  suitable 
for  the  pulpit  —  as  much  so  as  the  opium-question ;  but, 
on  many  accounts,  I  prefer  to  address  my  fellow-townsmen 
from  this  public  platform.  It  will  be  my  duty  to  speak 
without  respect  of  persons  —  and  without  disrespect  to 
persons.  It  would  be  an  ill  compliment  to  those  who  use 
tobacco  if  I  took  for  granted  that  they  would  wish  me 
to  express  myself  timidly  or  obscurely.  I  invite  the 
criticism  of  those  who  are  not  ashamed  to  give  their 
names,  and  am  desirous  to  correct  any  mistake.  Having 
to  speak  on  so  many  branches  of  the  subject,  I  can  do 
full  justice  to  none ;  but  it  is  my  wish  to  waken  inquiry, 
and  to  lead  you  to  read  and  to  think  on  the  subject,  and 
then  to  express  your  convictions,  and  act  up  to  them. 

The  tobacco-plant  belongs  to  the  botanical  order  of 
SolanecB,  or  the  deadly-nightshade  tribe,  some  species  of 
which  are  to  be  found  in  almost  every  region  of  the 
globe  :  it  comprises  henbane  and  other  plants  noted  for 


40  A  LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

narcotic  qualities.  Tobacco  was  used  in  Persia  long 
before  the  discovery  of  America ;  it  is  supposed  to  have 
been  introduced  into  England  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and 
the  settlers  who  returned  from  Virginia,  about  the  year 
1586.-^  They  also  imported  a  plant  of  the  same  order, 
which  has  been  of  immense  importance  to  Europe  —  the 
potato  —  of  which  the  leaves,  stem,  and  fruit  contain  the 
narcotic  principle ;  though  the  tubers  of  the  roots,  when 
cooked,  are  so  useful  as  food.  What  a  contrast  between 
a  steaming  dish  of  potatoes  and  a  cloud  of  tobacco- 
smoke  ! 

Whether  or  not  smoking  is  a  poisonous  habit,  tobacco 
is  unquestionably  a  poison.  I^t  is  not  every  poison  that 
kills  rapidly.  There  are  noted  poisons  to  which  persons 
gradually  accustom  themselves,  and  live  on,  sometimes  to 
old  age.  Mr.  Solly,  F.  R.  S.,  remarks  :  "  The  opium- 
eater  can  take  an  ounce  of  laudanum  for  his  morning's 
dram,  and  feel  it  not ;  when  the  eighth  part  of  it  would  be 
fatal  to  the  uninitiated."  In  Upper  Styria,  it  is  a  custom 
to  take  arsenic,  which  in  small  doses  has  certain  pleasant 
effects ;  and  some  Styrians  may  say  that  they  should 
die  if  deprived  of  their  arsenic.  While  many  have  been 
killed  by  raw  spirits,  others  get  to  drink  them  habitually,  as 
though  eau  de  vie  was  really  the  "water  of  life."  But  this 
does  not  prove  that  these  poisons  are  not  poisons,  nor 
even  that  the  system  which  is  gradually  used  to  them,  and 

1  The  earliest  detailed  account  of  tobacco  in  England  is  said  to 
be  in  "  Joyfull  newes  oute  of  the  newe  founde  worlde.  Englished 
by  John  Frampton,  London,  1577,"  which  contains  a  translation 
of  a  Spanish  work,  and  also  of  a  French  treatise,  relating  the  in- 
troduction of  it  into  France  by  Nicot  (whence  nicotine,  «S:c.),  who 
met  with  it  in  Portugal  about  1 560.  Marvellous  cures,  especially 
of  wounds,  ulcers,  and  sores,  were  attributed  to  it. 


A   LECTURE  ON  TOBACCO.  4 1 

is   so   enslaved  by  them    that   abstinence   is   a   terrible 
privation,  is  none  the  worse  for  them. 

"The  constituent  part  of  tobacco  which  makes  it  at 
once  so  agreeable  and  so  dangerous  to  health  is  nicotine. 
.  .  .  One  tenth  of  a  grain  of  it  will  kill  a  middle-sized 
dog  in  three  minutes ;  and  ...  it  has  been  calculated 
that  in  a  single  cigar  there  is  enough  nicotine,  if  given 
pure,  to  kill  two  men."  ^  Persons  have  died  in  a  few 
hours  after  accidentally  swallowing  tobacco  or  a  little 
snuff.^  The  oil  formed  in  burning  it  is  used  by  savages  to 
poison  their  arrows.  "A  little  brother  and  his  sister 
amused  themselves  by  making  soap-bubbles  with  their 
father's  old  pipe ;  the  boy  died  from  imbibing  the  essen- 
tial oil  that  was  in  it,  and  the  girl  was  dangerously  ill."  ^ 
In  1879  ^i^  inquest  was  held  on  a  boy  of  fourteen,  who 
had  been  smoking  a  much-used  tobacco-pipe,  and  died 
the  next  morning.^  A  man  in  Paris  had  been  cleaning 
his  pipe  with  a  knife  with  which  he  accidentally  cut  one  of 
his  fingers ;  in  a  few  hours  his  hand  and  arm  became 
inflamed,  and  amputation  afforded  the  only  chance  of 
saving  his  life.^  Many  cases  are  recorded  in  which  the 
votaries  of  tobacco  have  put  the  scrapings  of  their  pipes 
on  children's  sores  as  a  remedy,  and  have  caused  their 
death.  All  poisons  have  certan  medicinal  qualities,  and 
infusions   of    tobacco   are   used  in  some    skin   diseases ; 

1  "  Tobacco,  and  the  Diseases  it  Produces,"  by  C.  R.  Drysdale, 
M.  D.,  &c.,  1880,  p.  5. 

2  "Monthly  Letters  of  the  Anti-Tobacco  Society,"  &c.,  October, 
1879, and  April,  1880.  Dr.  C.  Clay's  "Two  Lectures  on  Tobacco," 
1842,  p.  12. 

3  "  The  Workman's  Pipe."  A  Lecture  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ritchie. 
Third  edition,  1878,  pp.  49,  50. 

4  "  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  168.  ^  Ibid.  p.  159. 


42  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

but,  unless  applied  with  judgment,  dreadful  consequences 
have  ensued.  Dr.  Clay  says  (p.  12)  :  "I  have  been 
called  to  children  writhing  in  horrid  convulsions  from 
having  had  the  decoction  of  tobacco  applied  for  the  itch 
and  scald-head,  and  I  have  always  experienced  great 
difficulty  in  restoring  them ;  three  instances  in  my  own 
recollection  were  attended  with  fatal  results."  Soldiers, 
wanting  to  disable  themselves  from  duty,  have  applied  a 
moistened  tobacco-leaf  to  the  armpit,  inducing  extreme 
prostration  and  sickness.  The  physician  of  a  government 
tobacco-factory  at  Iglau,  in  Moravia,  reported  that  "  of  a 
hundred  boys  who  entered  the  works,  seventy-two  fell 
sick  in  the  first  six  months  ; "  and  deaths  are  not  infrequent 
there  from  narcotic  poisoning. 

The  ill  effects  of  a  poison  are  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  number  of  deaths  of  which  it  is  the  obvious  cause. 
It  is  not  easy  to  estimate  the  amount  of  sickness  and  in- 
jury resulting  from  tobacco ;  but  medical  men  warn  us  of 
its  tendencies.  All  smoke  is  injurious  to  the  eyes ;  but 
tobacco,  which  acts  on  the  optic  nerve,  frequently  causes 
blindness,  and  color-bHndness,  so  dangerous  in  railway 
signalmen.  The  eminent  London  oculist,  Mr.  Critchett, 
says  that  he  is  constantly  consulted  by  gentlemen  for  com- 
mencing blindness,  caused  solely  by  great  smoking.  Others 
bear  a  similar  testimony.^  If  not  too  far  advanced, 
the  malady  has  been  removed  by  total  abstinence  from 
tobacco.  The  smoker's  sore  throat  and  diseases  of  the 
tongue  and  gums  are  also  notorious.  "  Nicotine  enters 
the  body  by  the  stomach,  the  lungs,  and  the  skin ;  and  its 
effects  are  uniform  by  whatever  gate  it  enters."     "  The 

1  See  Dr.  Drysdale,  p.  9 ;  and  *'  Narcotism,"  No.  31,  p.  3,  No. 
55,  &c.,  published  by  the  Anti-Tobacco  Society. 


A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  43 

heart  beats  more  rapidly  from  the  paralyzing  effects  of  the 
nicotine  on  the  minute  vessels  of  the  system,  which  no 
longer  offer  their  usual  resistance  to  the  force-pumps  of 
the  circulation."  Dr.  E.  Smith  found  his  pulse  rise  from 
74  to  112,  after  smoking  eleven  minutes.  Another  physi- 
cian took  count  of  his  pulse  every  five  minutes  during  an 
hour's  smoking,  and  computed  that  it  had  beat  1,000 
times  in  excess.^  Dr.  Townson,  a  physician  to  insurance 
companies,  stated  that  nearly  every  one  of  those  whom  he 
had  rejected,  after  examining  them  for  life  policies,  had 
brought  on  an  affection  of  the  heart  through  excessive 
smoking.^  Brain  diseases,  and  those  that  result  from  im- 
paired digestion,  are  frequently  produced  by  tobacco.  It 
is  no  proof  of  its  harmlessness  that  many  who  use  it  are  as 
healthy  as,  or  even  more  healthy  than  others  who  abstain. 
Many  soldiers  live  longer  than  others  who  have  never 
endangered  their  lives  in  war.  No  one  now  doubts  that 
foul  air  is  noxious ;  yet  in  ill-drained  towns,  where  hun- 
dreds every  year  fall  its  victims,  others  are  to  be  found 
enjoying  better  health,  and  reaching  a  greater  age,  than 
many  who  have  wholesome  abodes.  Thousands  die  every 
year  from  alcoholic  poisoning,  and  the  probabilities  of  life 
are,  on  the  whole,  far  better  for  abstainers  than  for  drinkers  ; 
and  yet  there  are  drinkers  who  are  more  healthful  than 
many  abstainers.  There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  sus- 
ceptibility to  poisonous  influences  in  different  persons ; 
and  those  who  offend  against  the  laws  of  nature  in  one 
respect  may  be  obsen-ant  in  others  ;  yet  any  habit  that  is 
unwholesome  must  be  more  or  less  hurtful.    The  first  time 

1  "  Narcotism,"  No.  20. 

2  "  Monthly  Letters/'  p.  267.    See  also  p.  259,  "  The  Tobacco 
Heart." 


44  ^   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

that  any  one  uses  tobacco  (except,  perhaps,  those  who 
have  been  brought  up  in  its  atmosphere)  its  noxious  prop- 
erties are  evident  enough ;  and  if  these  seem  to  pass  away 
—  if  "  Nature  withdraws  her  monitor  when  the  warning  is 
unheeded  "  —  the  evil  is  not  removed  because  it  is  stored 
up  secretly. 

It  is  pleaded  that  were  wholesomeness  our  rule,  other 
things  in  continual  use  should  be  abandoned  —  that  tea 
and  coffee,  e.  g.,  are  as  injurious  to  some  as  tobacco  is  to 
others.  But  "  two  wrongs  "  — or  even  twenty —  "  do  not 
make  a  right."  There  may  be  excess,  no  doubt,  in  "  the 
cup  which  cheers  but  not  inebriates,"  and  many  weaken 
their  digestions  and  impair  their  nerves  by  tea  or  coffee 
drinking ;  yet  I  never  heard  of  any  one  being  killed  by 
swallowing  a  few  leaves  of  tea  or  grains  of  coffee.  There 
is  nothing  but  what  is  good  for  something,  and  we  have  not 
denied  that  tobacco  has  medicinal  uses ;  but  those  who 
take  medicines  when  they  are  not  ill  may  become  so  ill  as 
to  get  beyond  the  help  of  medicine  ;  those  who  play  with 
a  poison  may  find  that  the  poison  makes  them  its  sport 
and  its  victim.  Tobacco  has  been  commended  as  a  disin- 
fectant, destroying  the  germs  of  disease,  and  as  a  prophy- 
lactic, rendering  the  smoker  insensible  to  infection ;  but 
though  it  kills  the  blight  on  plants,  it  may  not  destroy  that 
which  blights  mankind ;  and  insensibility  to  danger  is  by 
no  means  safety.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  smokers,  from 
their  impaired  vitality,  are  the  more  liable  to  take  a  disease  ; 
while  it  has  often  happened  that  cures  have  been  checked, 
when  the  atmosphere  of  the  room  has  been  tainted  with 
smoke.  The  oblivion  of  pain  and  discomfort  resulting 
from  tobacco  is  often  a  doubtful  benefit.  If  a  poor  man 
smokes  to  allay  his  hunger,  he  forgets  that  hunger  should 


A   LECTURE   ON-  TOBACCO.  45 

Stimulate  him  to  procure  food.  It  is  a  mockery,  if  a  man 
needs  bread,  to  give  him  a  weed.  Tobacco  does  not  feed 
him  ;  and  because  he  is  not  well  fed,  tobacco  is  more  in- 
jurious to  him  tlian  to  his  well-nurtured  neighbor ;  he  be- 
comes emaciated.  The  smoker  may  feel  warmed,  because 
his  sense  of  cold  is  numbed ;  while  the  thermometer 
would  show  that  he  has  really  lowered  his  temperature. 
If  any  one  smokes  to  overcome  an  unwholesome  smell, 
he  only  adds  to  the  nuisance ;  the  ashes  and  smoke  are 
two  dirts  the  more.  The  carbonic  oxide  from  the  imper- 
fectly kindled  tobacco  is  an  additional  element  of  danger. 
Smoke  blinds  in  more  senses  than  one. 

Tobacco  is  taken  in  different  forms.  At  one  time  snuff 
was  in  fashion.  Some  great  men  have  been  great  snuffers, 
—  among  them  Napoleon  I.,  who  kept  it  loose  in  his 
pocket ;  his  life  was  shortened  by  it.  Lunatics  are  usually 
very  fond  of  snuff.  It  is  the  dried  leaf  and  part  of  the  stalk 
of  tobacco,  ground  down ;  but  it  is  also  adulterated  with 
other  irritating  substances.  Carlyle  told  Mr.  W.  Maccall 
that  he  had  been  cured  of  snuff-taking  when  he  was  four 
years  old.  Some  old  ladies  offered  him  a  pinch  from  their 
box.  ''  A  succession  of  explosions  followed,  and,"  said  he, 
"  I  thought  my  head  was  blown  off."  At  the  age  of 
eleven  he  unfortunately  became  a  smoker.  It  is  no  com- 
pliment to  call  a  person  "snuffy."  The  snuff  he  drops 
hurts  our  noses,  his  nose  offends  our  eyes,  and  the  habit 
is  not  only  unpleasant,  but  injurious ;  it  often  results  in 
apoplexy. 

Another  use,  or  abuse,  of  tobacco,  is  ckewi?ig.  This  is 
not  a  custom  in  England,  except  among  sailors,  but 
Americans  are  notorious  for  it.  In  the  prison  at  Black- 
well's  Island,  New  York,  a  few  years  ago,  there  were  not  a 


46  A   LECTURE   ON   TOBACCO. 

dozen  out  of  936  males  who  did  not  chew  tobacco,  and 
about  162  pounds  were  consumed  every  fortnight.  When 
the  allowance  was  stopped  they  refused  to  work,  till  soli- 
tary confinement  and  a  bread-and-water  diet  brought  them 
to  terms.^  Chewing,  of  course,  involves  spitting;  and 
saliva  impregnated  with  tobacco  is  not  a  pleasant  sight. 
All  travellers  in  the  United  States  are  struck  with  the 
spitting.  Mr.  White,  of  New  York,  in  his  recent  work  on 
"  England,"  noticed  with  pleasure  the  absence  of  spit- 
toons ;  for  across  the  Atlantic  one  sees  them  everywhere  — 
in  steamers,  in  homes,  in  churches,  in  the  capitol  —  but 
also  very  obvious  tokens  that  they  are  not  always  used 
when  they  should  be.  The  dyspepsia,  which  is  so  prevalent 
in  America,  is  no  doubt  aggravated  by  this  nasty  practice, 
which  no  one  justifies. 

Smoking  is  the  usual  mode  of  treating  the  weed  in  this 
country.  Its  distinctive  evil  is  the  injury-  that  it  inflicts 
on  others.  The  smoker  has  neither  the  power  nor  the 
wish  to  consume  his  own  smoke ;  all  in  his  company 
must  share  it  —  will  they,  nill  they.  There  is,  however,  a 
special  harm  to  himself.  The  saliva  must  absorb  some  of 
the  smoke.  He  either  spits  it  out  or  swallows  it.  If  he 
swallows  it  he  takes  an  infusion  of  tobacco ;  mild  it  may 
be,  but  the  repeated  dose  is  not  harmless.  If  he  spits,  he 
practises  a  nauseous  habit,  and  wastes  the  saliva  which 
nature  gave  him  for  important  uses.  Smoking  dries  the 
mouth  and  throat,  and  causes  thirst.  Those  who  like  the 
narcotic  intoxicant  do  not  necessarily  desire  alcoholic  in- 

1  "  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  104.  On  the  other  hand,  after  the  late 
terrible  fires  in  Michigan,  the  convicts  in  the  Ohio  State  prison 
sent  a  gift  to  the  sufferers  of  a  hundred  dollars  — the  result  partly 
of  their  relinquishment  of  tobacco. 


A  LECTURE   OJSF  TOBACCO.  47 

toxicants  ;  the  effects  are  different.  The  Mohammedans, 
who  are  great  smokers,  are  prohibited  from  taking  wine, 
and  may  prefer  the  dreamy  influence  of  the  weed.  On 
the  other  hand,  pubhcans  ahvays  sell  tobacco ;  which,  if 
they  thought  that  smoking  hindered  drinking,  they  would 
not  care  to  do.  The  pipe  and  pot  go  together.  I  wish 
that  the  Three  Cups  ^  would  stand  on  their  own  merits 
and  discard  the  pipe. 

Drinkers  are  often  ignorant  as  to  what  they  drink,  so 
are  smokers  as  to  what  they  smoke.  There  is  a  remark- 
able difference  in  the  properties  of  different  kinds  of  to- 
bacco, as  has  been  proved  by  analysts.  The  dried  leaves 
from  various  districts  in  France  yielded  from  4.64  to  7.96 
per  cent  of  nicotine ;  while  in  the  Havana  leaf  there  was 
only  2  per  cent ;  the  Virginia  weed  contains  three  times 
as  much  as  that  of  Maryland.^  But  of  course  those  who 
ask  for  a  Havana  cannot  be  sure  of  what  they  may  get.  It 
has  been  lately  stated  that  an  immense  quantity  of  cheap 
European  tobacco  is  shipped  to  Cuba,  to  be  made  up  and 
exported  as  Havana  cigars.  The  Act  of  Parliament 
against  the  adulteration  of  tobacco  informs  us  of  various 
noxious  articles  used  by  unscrupulous  manufacturers. 
Some,  however,  are  comparatively  innocent,  such  as 
sawdust,  peat,  and  seaweed ;  so  that  the  workman's  bad 
tobacco  may  not  be  as  poisonous  as  his  neighbor's  best 
Virginia.  When  I  was  in  Baltimore  I  went  into  the  great 
tobacco- warehouses.  A  pig  was  wandering  about  —  she 
seemed  quite  at  home  there  ;  the  leaves  were  being  pulled 

1  A  Temperance  coffee-house  for  the  sale  of  tea,  coffee,  and 
cocoa  (three  cups),  &c. 

■'-'  See  Watt's  "  Dictionary  of  Chemistr>-,"  v.  45,  quoted  in"  The 
Tobacco  Question,"  p.  6. 


48  A   LECTURE  ON  TOBACCO. 

by  unwashed  negroes  —  without  pocket  handkerchiefs. 
But  those  who  do  not  object  to  poison  cannot  be  expected 
to  mind  dirt.^ 

"  Strong  drink  "  used  to  be  thought  essential  to  bodily 
strength.  Masters  insisted  on  their  servants  drinking  it, 
lest  they  should  be  inefficiently  served.  Even  scientists 
shared  the  delusion,  till  working-men  put  the  matter  to 
the  proof,  and  taught  their  teachers  that  more  work,  in  the 
long  run,  could  be  done  without  it.  Tobacco,  being  a 
modem  innovation,  has  not  got  this  prescriptive  praise. 
Few,  whose  opinion  is  worth  anything,  will  maintain  that  it 
is  essential  to  health  or  active  duty ;  on  the  contrary,  those 
who  are  training  for  various  manly  exercises  declare  it  to 
be  detrimental.  It  is  said,  however,  to  "  minister  to  a 
mind  diseased,"  to  soothe  the  troubled  nerves,  and  to  en- 
able a  man  to  do  a  larger  amount  of  intellectual  work. 
Many  literary  men  smoke,  it  is  true,  and  the  smoke-loving 
Germans  have  been  famous  for  their  industry  as  scholars ; 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  might  not  have  been 
stronger  in  mind  without  it.  We  have  been  told  by  some, 
who  profess  scarcely  to  smoke  at  all,  that  when  they  are 
exhausted  by  study  or  composition,  a  few  whiffs  will  quite 
revive  them,  and  enable  them  to  pursue  their  work. 
Moderate  drinkers  tell  us  the  same  about  wine.     But  we 

1  A  writer  in  the  "  New  York  Tribune  "  states  that  five  eighths 
of  the  cigars  sold  in  New  York  as  imported  articles  are  made  in 
squalid  abodes  in  that  city.  The  tobacco  is  wetted  down  and 
is  spread  on  the  floor  over  night  in  the  rooms  where  the  families 
eat  and  sleep  ;  and  they  tread  on  it  in  their  domestic  operations. 
In  the  morning,  while  it  is  yet  damp  and  soiled,  it  is  stripped  from 
the  stems  by  the  children.  This  is  not  pleasant  information  for 
the  smokers,  hut  our  pity  is  due  to  the  children  who  have  to  live 
and  work  in  the  poisoned  atmosphere. 


A   LECTURE  OJV  TOBACCO.  49 

fear  our  foes  when  they  bring  us  gifts ;  one  is  suspicious 
of  the  benefits  said  to  be  conferred  by  alcohoHc  or  nar- 
cotic poisons.  They  silence  the  warnings  of  exhausted 
nature.  E\^en  if  the  person  under  their  influence  seems 
to  be  highly  exalted  or  delightfully  composed,  we  want  to 
know  what  the  reaction  will  be.  Those  who  rely  on  smoke 
find  in  time  that  they  cannot  do  without  smoke  ;  and  they 
may  perhaps  experience  the  truth  of  what  was  said  by  the 
famous  Abernethy,  that  it  stupefies  all  the  "senses  and 
all  the  faculties,  by  slow  but  enduring  intoxication,  into 
dull  obliviousness." 

Its  bad  effects  are  most  obvious  in  the  young.  In 
1855,  102  of  the  pupils  in  the  Polytechnic  School  in  Paris 
smoked,  and  58  did  not;  yet  of  the  20  who  stood  highest 
in  the  examinations,  there  were  only  six  smokers  and  four- 
teen non-smokers.  Similar  experiences  led  the  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction,  in  i860,  to  issue  "  a  circular  addressed 
to  the  directors  of  the  colleges  and  schools  throughout  the 
empire,  forbidding  the  use  of  tobacco  and  cigars  to  stu- 
dents ;  giving  as  a  reason  that  '  the  physical  as  well  as  the 
intellectual  development  of  many  youths  has  been  checked 
by  the  immoderate  use  of  tobacco.'  "  ^  It  has  been  lately 
reported  ^  that  "  the  experiment  of  permitting  the  naval 
cadets  to  smoke  at  the  Naval  Educational  Establishment 
of  the  United  States,  at  Annapolis,  having  been  fairly  tried 
for  three  years,  has  been  found  injurious  to  their  health, 
discipline,  and  power  of  study.  The  medical  officers 
of  the  Academy  and  the  Academic  Board  therefore 
urge,  in  the  strongest  terms,  that  this  permission  be  re- 
voked."    These  are  important  testimonies ;  but  ?fien  who 

1  "  May  Young  England  Smoke  ?  "  p.  19. 

2  «  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  265. 

4 


50  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

indulge  in  the  weed  must  not  expect   boys   to    abstain 
from  it. 

Let  us  now  inquire  whether  the  7vealth  of  the  country 
is  increased  by  the  use  of  tobacco  ;  because  we  do  not 
regard  health  as  everything.  In  this  town,  as  in  most 
others,  there  are  occupations  which  shorten  Hfe,  but 
which  seem  to  be  necessary.  Men  must  get  a  Hving  — 
though  it  is  sad  if  they  get  a  dyi?ig  instead.  In  these 
cases  we  advise  deHcate  persons  to  take  to  other  emjDloy- 
ments,  even  at  lower  wages ;  and  we  urge  manufacturers 
to  adopt  plans  to  make  the  work  more  healthful,  but  we 
do  not  wish  it  stopped.  Now  is  the  ?iation  the  richer  for 
tobacco?  The  government  seems  to  be  —  it  gets  more 
than  eight  millions  a  year  by  it;  but  the  gain  to  the 
exchequer  may  be  a  far  greater  loss  to  the  people.  Its 
income  from  beer,  wine,  and  spirits  is  more  than  three 
times  as  much ;  but  no  one  now  doubts  that  the  nation 
would  be  far  richer  if  it  spent  its  money  more  wisely. 
Government  is  to  secure  good  order,  and  it  cannot  really 
benefit  by  that  which  promotes  disorder  or  idleness ; 
though  as  long  as  these  practices  continue,  it  is  fair  that 
they  should  be  restrained  by  taxation.  As  to  the  growth 
of  tobacco,  since  it  is  not  permitted  at  home,^  whatever 
profit  comes  from  it  goes  to  the  foreigner.  The  tobacco 
consumed  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1880  was  49,323,- 
769  lbs.  or  I  lb.  6}^  oz.  a  head'-^  —  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, smokers  and  non-smokers.     The  duty  on  a  pound 

1  It  is  prohibited  by  statutes.  Quantities  not  exceeding  half  a 
pole  in  extent  may,  however,  be  grown  in  gardens,  for  scientific 
use.  —  "  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  204 

2  See  the  "  Twenty-fourth  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Her 
Majesty's  Inland  Revenue,  for  the  year  ending  31st  March,  1881," 
Appendix,  p.  xxv.     In  1841  the  consumption  was  23,096,281  lbs.. 


A   LECTURE  ON  TOBACCO.  5  I 

of  common  tobacco  is  3s.  6d.  The  original  cost  when 
imported  is  about  6d.,  making  four  shiUings,  —  but  this  is 
the  retail'  price  of  the  common  sort,  apparently  leaving 
no  profit  to  the  manufacturers  and  venders ;  but  the 
weight  is  greatly  increased  in  the  process  of  manufacture.-^ 
Taking  this  into  account,  and  also  the  great  quantity 
smuggled,  it  is  supposed  that  75,000,000  lbs.  are  sold, 
making  2  lbs.  2  oz.  on  an  average ;  and  reckoning  the 
cost  of  cigars  and  the  more  expensive  tobaccos,  pipes, 
meerchaums,  &c.,  los.  a  head  will  be  under  the  mark. 
This  would  make  for  Bridport  about  ;,{^3,400  a  year. 
Even  if  we  said  ;^i,ooo,  it  would  be  a  very  large  sum  for 
a  town  which  is  complaining  of  its  poverty,  and  where 
there  is  such  a  difficulty  in  raising  ^300  a  year  for  educa- 
tion. Smoking  is  by  no  means  so  expensive  a  habit  as 
drinking,  but  it  wastes  a  great  deal  of  money  as  well  as 

or  1334^  oz.  per  head.  The  maximum  was  in  1877,  before  the  in- 
crease of  the  duty,  viz.,  50,775,032  lbs.,  or  I  lb.  8  oz.  per  head. 
From  the  Customs'  Returns  in  1880-81  it  appears  that  there  were 
imported  47,968,448  lbs.  of  unmanufactured  tobacco  at  3s.  6d.  a 
pound  duty  ;  manufactured  tobacco  (including  "  home  "  in  bond), 
at  4s.  4d.  to  4s.  lod.  duty,  156,951  lbs  ;  cigars,  at  5s.  6d.,  1,122,325 
lbs.;  snuff,  at  4s.  id.  to  4s.  lod.,  310  lbs.;  free  for  agricultural 
purposes,  75,154  lbs. ;  total,  49,323,188  lbs.  426,856  lbs.  were  ad- 
mitted free  for  manufacture  in  bond  ;  while  yjS'1^7  ^^^-  o^  snuff  and 
103,  785  lbs.  of  manufactured  tobacco  were  exported  on  drawback. 
1  The  "Journal  of  the  Statistical  Society"  (September,  1872) 
reckoned  the  increase  at  58  per  cent.  ("Narcotism,"  No.  36.)  If 
2,^  per  cent,  is  reckoned  for  moistening,  25  per  cent,  is  added  for 
adulteration  ("  Narcotism,"  No.  26).  The  Inland  Revenue  Report 
(Appendix,  p.  xxiv.)  states  that  in  1879,  out  of  276  samples  exam- 
ined, 136  were  adulterated  ;  in  1880,  out  of  148  examined,  only 
53  were  adulterated ;  these  were  mostly  smuggled.  In  only  one 
manufactory  was  there  any  evidence  of  adulteration.  The  leaf  is 
twopence  or  threepence  below  its  normal  price. 


52  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

of  time.  Those  who  smoke  tenpenny  or  even  sixpenny 
cigars,  would  soon  dispose  of  los.  6d.  a  week,  or  ^27  6s. 
a  year ;  but  the  few  pence  weekly  spent  by  very  mode- 
rate smokers  among  working-men,  is  often  more  than 
they  can  afford.  As  for  that,  many  spend  on  food  more 
than  they  know  how  to  afford ;  but  food  brings  them  a 
return.  A  well-fed  man  can  do  more  work  than  an  ill-fed 
one  ;  while  a  smoking  man  does  not  do  more  work  than  a 
non-smoker.  On  the  contrary,  the  smoker  is  apt  to  lose 
time ;  the  narcotic  makes  him  take  things  too  easily ; 
and  the  tendency  of  smoking  is,  more  or  less,  to  paralyze 
his  faculties,  and  to  shorten  his  working  life. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  money  is  not  lost ;  the  seven- 
teen miUions  are  not  flung  into  the  sea.  About  half  goes 
to  the  government ;  the  rest  is  divided  among  the  growers, 
the  importers,  the  adulteraters,  and  the  venders.  As  to 
the  workmen,  the  employment  is  unwholesome,  and  a 
much  larger  share  would  go  to  them  if  the  money  was 
spent  on  other  manufactured  articles.  If  the  sale  ceased, 
the  tobacco-buyers  would  either  buy  something  else,  or 
pay  their  debts,  or  save  for  bad  times ;  so  that  the  coun- 
try would  be  as  prosperous  —  more  so ;  as  much  money 
would  circulate,  and  more  would  be  produced ;  because 
nothing  comes  of  tobacco  but  smoke  and  ashes  and  nox- 
ious gases. 

Tobacco  not  only  hinders  a  great  deal  of  productive 
labor,  but  it  is  indirectly  destructive  of  property.  It  is 
impossible  to  compute  the  fires  caused  by  smoking  —  fires 
in  bedrooms,  workshops,  warehouses,  stables,  barns,  ricks, 
churches,  ships,  and  mines  —  from  the  hot  ashes  of  the 
pipe  or  cigar,  or  from  the  matches  used  for  lighting 
them.     Dr.   Ritchie,  after  stating  that  in  i860  53  fires 


A  LECTURE   ON   TOBACCO.  $3 

occurred  in  London  alone  from  smoking,  adds  :  "  I  have 
more  than  once  seen  a  carpenter,  under  a  London  station, 
stop  his  work,  light  his  pipe,  and  cast  the  half-burnt  match 
among  the  shavings/'  In  1869  pipes  and  lucifers  were 
taken  from  the  pockets  of  58  workmen  in  one  day, 
as  they  were  entering  powder- works  at  Hounslow. 
Many  explosions  of  gunpowder  have  this  cause.  Last 
July  the  government  powder-magazine  at  Mazatlan,  Mex- 
ico, was  blown  up,  with  many  houses  round  it,  and  over 
seventy  lives  were  lost  through  the  cai-elessness  of  a  sol- 
dier who  dropped  his  lighted  cigar/  Cases  have  fre- 
quently been  brought  before  the  magistrates,  of  miners  who 
have  incurred  fines  or  imprisonment  through  taking  their 
pipes  and  matches  with  them  into  dangerous  coalpits.  At 
the  Blantyre  explosion  (July,  1879),  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  28  persons,  the  Inspector  of  Mines  reported 
that,  near  the  bodies,  pipes  had  been  found,  with  tobacco 
partly  smoked,  and  lucifer  matches.'^  This  is  but  one 
instance  among  many.  Those  who  work  in  constant  peril 
are  too  apt  to  become  reckless ;  but  the  indolent  careless- 
ness, which  is  considered  one  of  the  charms  of  smoking, 
greatly  enhances  the  danger.  Offenders  have  sometimes 
pleaded  that  they  were  not  even  aware  that  they  were 
smoking,  so  unconscious  were  they  of  what  is  habitual. 

We  shall  next  consider  whether  the  use  of  tobacco  pro- 
motes or  hinders  freedom.  Freedom  is  very  dear  to 
Britons,  who  not  only  boast  that  they  "never  will  be 
slaves,"  but  also  that  — 

"  Slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England ;  if  their  lungs 
Receive  our  air,  that  moment  they  are  free.*' 

But  this  free  air  is  something  different  from  smoke.     For 
1  "  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  272.    2  "Monthly  Letters,"  pp.  162,  193. 


54  ^   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

every  man  to  do  as  he  likes  is  not  freedom, —  nor  anything 
else,  for  it  is  an  impossibility.*  Lawlessness  and  anarchy 
are  not  freedom ;  and  for  the  strong  to  oppress  the  weak 
is  tyranny.  Freedom  co-exists  with  the  observance  of 
laws,  written  or  unwritten,  which  do  WTong  to  none,  and 
which  promote  "  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  num- 
ber." If  any  one  compels  another  to  do  that  which  he  is 
not  lawfully  bound  to  do,  he  so  far  robs  him  of  his  free- 
dom. When,  in  the  old  drinking  days,  a  host  would  lock 
the  door,  and  tell  his  guests  that  no  one  should  leave  the 
room  till  all  his  wine  was  drunk,  that  was  a  tyrannical  as 
well  as  a  disgusting  usage.  When  bullying  workmen  have 
forced  their  comrades  to  drink,  that  was  tyrannical.  Is  it 
a  less  tyranny  when  we  are  compelled  to  smoke  ?  The 
Temperance  movement  has  secured  liberty  for  those  who 
have  moral  courage  to  assert  it,  when  they  do  not  choose 
to  drink  intoxicants.  If  an  abstainer  is  in  a  room  with 
drinkers,  he  may  disapprove  of  what  they  are  doing,  and 
if  they  drink  to  excess,  he  may  be  in  danger  from  them ; 
but  what  is  in  their  cups  does  not  go  down  his  throat.  If 
he  is  in  the  company  of  tobacco-chewers,  their  spitting 
habits  may  disgust  him,  and  perhaps  imperil  his  clothes ; 
but  he  is  not  forced  to  chew.  But  if  he  is  among  smok- 
ers, he  is  compelled  to  be  smoked,  if  not  to  smoke ;  and 
even  when  pipes  and  cigars  have  gone  out  of  sight,  they 
may  not  be  out  of  smell.  The  nuisance  which  smokers 
cause  does  not  pass  away  with  them.  Railway  carriages, 
in  which  they  had  no  right,  retain  the  stale  smell  which 
they  have  left.  If  an  ill-mannered  passenger  puts  his 
dirty  feet  on  a  cushion,  the  dirt  may  rub  off  when  it  is  dry ; 
but  who  can  brush  out  the  ill  odor  of  tobacco?  It  clings 
to  cloth,  as  those  know  who  employ  a  smoking  tailor,  or 
whose  clothes  are  narcotized  by  smoking  companions. 


A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  55 

Now  if  the  qualities  of  tobacco  were  innocent,  it  might 
be  questioned  how  far  the  dishke  of  those  who  think  it 
disagreeable  ought  to  be  regarded.  We  must  not  forbid 
the  doctors  to  prescribe  assafaetida  because  of  its  nauseous 
smell ;  gourmands  would  not  hke  to  be  deprived  of  their 
high  game  and  mouldy  cheese ;  nor  would  the  lovers 
of  onions  consent  that  their  ill  odor  should  condemn 
them.  It  is  not  wise  to  be  too  squeamish.  If  a  Httle 
sickness  or  faintness  was  an  insuperable  evil,  we  should 
never  cross  the  sea  or  get  seamen  for  our  ships ;  nor 
would  medical  students  pass  the  dissecting-room.  But  if 
you  have  gone  with  me  thus  far,  you  will  agree  that  those 
who  object  to  get  accustomed  to  tobacco-fumes  have  the 
right  on  their  side ;  since  smoking  is  not  such  a  beneficial 
custom  that  those  who  dislike  it  are  bound  to  become 
parties  to  it.  When  a  well-bred  gentleman  smokes,  he 
aims  to  do  it  where  it  will  not  cause  annoyance  (though 
this  will  not  be  always  as  easy  as  he  hopes),  and  is  careful 
not  to  sacrifice  the  health  and  comfort  of  others  to  his 
own  pleasure.  No  doubt  there  are  gentlemen  of  high 
breeding  who  are  not  thus  particular.  It  is  said  that  good 
breeding  considers  what  is  due  to  others,  —  high  breeding, 
what  is  due  to  one's  self.  Each  has  its  uses ;  both  should 
be  combined ;  for  high  breeding,  when  it  is  not  good,  is 
apt  —  like  high  game  —  to  be  offensive  ;  and  the  high- 
bred nobleman,  who  is  the  slave  of  tobacco,  is,  in  that 
respect,  not  above  the  smoker  who  blacks  his  boots. 

Tvly  opinion  of  the  tobacco- tyranny  is  confirmed  by  a 
leading  article  in  "The  Times  "  of  Sept.  13,  1879  :  — 

"There  is  a  reason  against  pubhc  smoking  —  perhaps, 
in  effect,  against  all  smoking  —  which  has  scarcely  received 
sufficient  recognition.     It  is  the  absolute  indifference  to 


56  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

the  comfort  and  convenience  of  society  at  large  that  it  is 
certain  to  produce.  In  this  country  there  is  still  a 
majority  who  do  not  like  smoking  or  its  atmospheric 
products.  They  do  not  like  the  smell  of  tobacco,  espe- 
cially if  it  be  bad,  which  it  generally  is.  They  do  not  like 
having  to  breathe  the  smoke  ejected  from  the  mouth  of 
the  smoker  who  has  walked  past  them,  or  perhaps  is 
standing  by.  They  do  not  like  to  enter  a  room  and  find 
that  habitual  smokers  have  been  there.  .  .  .  Smokers 
monopolize  far  more  than  their  share  of  our  railway 
accommodation.  Their  exigency  knows  no  limits.  A 
smoker  must  have  a  compartment  in  which  he  enjoys  the 
free  exercise  of  his  privilege,  even  if  he  have  it  all  to 
himself,  and  a  dozen  people  are  rushing  about  the  plat- 
form looking  in  vain  for  room,  the  guard's  whistle  already 
sounding.  What  is  worse,  he  often  ignores  the  carriage 
provided  for  his  accommodation,  and  looks  aggrieved  if, 
after  asking  whether  you  object  to  smoking,  you  answer  — 
however  mildly  —  that  you  do.  Tobacco  is  a  powerful 
drug,  administered  through  the  respiratory  organs  —  that 
is,  through  the  atmosphere ;  and  as  we  breathe  one 
another's  atmosphere,  as  it  were,  in  common  stock,  the 
smoker  administers  his  drug  to  all  about  him,  whether 
they  wish  it  or  not.  Indifference  or  apathy  with  re- 
gard to  the  comfort  of  others  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  effects  of  tobacco.  No  other  drug  will 
produce  anything  like  it.  Neither  opium  nor  intoxicating 
drink  produces  such  an  insensibility.  They  make  a  man 
insensible  to  his  own  true  interest  and  his  own  dignity ; 
they  make  hjm  foolish  or  violent ;  but  they  do  not  put 
him  into  such  actual  antagonism  to  the  human  race 
generally  as  to  make  him  do  constantly,  openly,  and  with 


A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  57 

pleasure,  what  they  very  much  dishke  and  beheve  to  be 
hurtful.  The  opium-eater  does  not  compel  you  to  eat 
opium  with  liim ;  the  drunkard  does  not  compel  you  to 
drink.  The  smoker  compels  you  to  smoke  —  nay,  more 
—  to  breathe  the  smoke  he  has  just  discharged  from  his 
own  mouth.  It  is  true  there  is  no  malice  in  it.  The 
tobacco-smoker  does  not  wish  you  harm  when  he  blows  a 
cloud  of  nicotine  into  your  face.  .  .  .  He  does  not  care 
whether  you  are  happy  or  miserable." 

So  far  "The  Times."  The  smoker  may  bear  "no  mal- 
ice "  if  he  has  his  own  way ;  but  if  you  remind  him  that 
he  is  in  a  carriage  where  smoking  is  prohibited,  he  is  too 
apt  to  show  his  rough  side,  as  the  records  of  police-courts 
prove,  when  those  who  have  been  insulted  by  him  ha\-e 
had  the  pubhc  spirit  to  bring  him  before  the  magistrate. 
You  may  remember  the  old  story  of  a  traveller  in  a  stage- 
coach, who  brought  home  to  his  fellow-passenger  the 
annoyance  he  was  causing.  The  smoker  was  asked  to 
refrain,  but  he  answered  that  he  had  a  right  to  do  as  he 
chose.  At  the  next  inn  the  Quaker  (for  the  Friends  are 
generally  the  heroes  in  such  transactions)  provided  him- 
self with  two  tallow- candles ;  one  of  these  he  took  with 
him  lighted  into  the  coach ;  then  he  ht  the  other,  and  blew 
out  the  first.  After  it  had  cooled,  he  reHt  No.  i,  and 
blew  out  No.  2,  —  and  so  on,  till  the  coach  was  pretty  well 
filled  with  their  fumes.  At  last  the  smoker  could  bear  it 
no  longer,  and  asked  the  Friend  what  he  meant  by  it. 
He  was  coolly  met  with  his  own  reply,  "  I  have  a  right 
to  do  as  I  choose  !  "  (After  all,  candle-smoke  is  not  so 
poisonous  as  tobacco-smoke,  and  it  had  not  passed 
through  the  Friend's  mouth  !)  He  had  the  good  sense 
to  take  the  hint  and  put  out  his  pipe,  and  they  travelled 


58  A   LECTURE   OAT  TOBACCO. 

happily  ever  after,  as  the  story-book  would  say.  Some 
who  recognize  that  smoking  inside  a  coach  or  omnibus  is 
a  nuisance,  suppose  that  it  cannot  be  so  regarded  in  the 
open  air  outside.  The  Manchester  Corporation  are  not  of 
this  opinion,  for  they  fine  a  cabman  if  he  smokes  while 
conveying  a  passenger.^  The  movement  of  the  air 
often  blows  the  smoke  and  ashes  on  those  who  feel  any- 
thing but  grateful  for  them,  and  the  .pleasure  of  travel- 
ling through  beautiful  scenery  is  completely  destroyed, 
in  the  case  of  those  who  are  made  to  suffer  distressing 
nausea. 

The  smoke-nuisance  is  worse  on  the  Continent.  A 
few  years  ago  the  Statistical  Society  of  Paris  reckoned  the 
annual  consumption  of  tobacco  in  different  countries,  for 
every  hundred  inhabitants,  as  follows:  England,  136^ 
lbs.  (the  present  amount  is  142^  lbs.);  France,  178)^ 
lbs.;  Germany,  330  lbs. ;  Holland,  441  lbs.;  Belgium, 
55ii<lbs.;&c.2 

Abroad,  they  are  the  non-smokers  who  have  special 
compartments  in  the  railway  carriages ;  and  often  it  is  a 
great  worry  to  secure  one,  as  they  are  "  few  and  far 
between."  If  you  attend  an  open-air  concert,  or  dine  at 
a  restaurant,  you  are  liable  to  be  smoked  out.  If  you  go 
on  the  verandah  of  a  hotel  to  enjoy  the  sweet  air  and 
the  beauty  of  the  prospect,  those  who  care  more  for  the 

1  "  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  235. 

'^  "Monthly  Letters,"  p.  103;  compare  p.  195.  "Whittaker's 
Almanac,"  p,  3S4,  gives  the  consumption  in  England  for  35  years. 
In  the  United  States,  during  the  year  ending  Midsummer,  1878, 
1,905,063,000  cigars  and  25,312,433  lbs.  of  tobacco  were  consumed. 
("Monthly  Letters,"  p.  144.)  The  recent  census  states  that  the 
culture  of  tobacco  is  largely  on  the  increase;  638,841  acres  (nearly 
1,000  square  miles)  are  devoted  to  it. 


A    LECTURE    ON   TOBACCO.  59 

weed  than  for  flowers  may  begin  to  fume,  and  you  begin 
to  fret/  Sometimes  one  is  half  tempted  to  accustom 
one's  self  to  smoke,  so  as  to  get  indifferent  to  it ;  but  it  is 
not  wise  to  be  indifferent  to  an  evil,  and  if  the  non-smoker 
suffers  from  nausea  at  the  habits  of  others,  he  at  all 
events  retains  his  power  of  enjoying  fresh  and  pure  air. 
If  a  smoker  could  only  appreciate  the  injury  to  the  health 
and  comfort  of  others  which  his  habit  causes,  he  would 
ask  himself  whether  he  has  any  more  right  to  foul  or 
poison  the  air  they  must  breathe  than  to  foul  or  poison 
the  water  they  must  drink.  We  are,  in  this  to\vn,  taxing 
ourselves  heavily  for  drainage  —  to  remove,  as  far  as 
possible,  ill  odors  and  bad  gases  from  our  houses  and 
streets ;  yet  hundreds  are  taxing  themselves  still  more 
heavily  to  supply  our  streets  and  houses  with  nicotine 
and  carbonic  acid. 

The  steadfast  resistance  to  the  drink-t\Tanny  won  im- 
portant concessions  to  abstainers.  The  value  of  pure 
water  has  been  recognized,  and  colossal  enterprises  have 
been  undertaken  to  provide  it.  Many  social  meetings,  at 
which  intoxicants  used  to  appear  as  a  matter  of  course, 
are  now  enjoyed  without  them.  It  is  the  reverse  as 
regards  smoking ;  it  has  claimed,  first  toleration,  and  then 
dominion,  where,  till  of  late  years,  it  never  ventured  to 
intrude ;  it  drives  away  many  from  places  and  companies 
where  they  have  a  right,  and  where  they  used  to  find  a 
welcome ;  or  if  they  sacrifice  their  disgust  for  the  sake  of 
social  intercourse,  they  may  have  good  reason  to  rue 
their  complaisance.-^ 

1  No  doubt  many  non-smokers,  including  ladies,  are  compara- 
tively indifferent  to  inhaling  a  moderate  amount  of  smoke  ;  it  is  no 
less  the  case  that  others  are  made  more  or  less  ill  by  it. 


60  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

Those  who  feel  indignant  at  being  robbed  of  their 
right  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air,  and  to  meet  their  friends 
without  being  drugged,  ought  in  charity  to  remember 
that  these  spoilers  of  their  liberty  have  often  lost  their 
own.  Smokers  who  have  been  enslaved  in  childhood, 
and  learnt  to  smoke  before  they  were  of  an  age  to  reason, 
are  objects  of  pity.  Great  is  the  power  of  habit  —  of 
this  we  are  glad  when  reason  approves  a  habit ;  but, 
unhappily,  unreasonable  habits  are  the  most  difficult  to 
change.  It  is  no  longer  thought  impossible  to  reform  a 
drunkard.  But  we  are  assured  that  it  is  easier  to  give  up 
alcoholics  than  tobacco  or  opium ;  the  slavery  is  more 
incessant  and  complete.  No  one  can  be  constantly 
drinking ;  but  persistent  smokers  inhale  their  nicotine  all 
day  long,  and  its  enervating  influence  takes  away  the 
desire,  and  almost  the  power,  to  be  free.  It  is  pitiable, 
the  degradation  to  which  the  slave  of  tobacco  is  reduced ; 
he  declares  that  he  is  not  half  himself  unless  under  its 
influence.  Except  in  the  case  of  the  drunkard  who  reels 
along  tlie  streets,  the  slave  to  drink  may  not  be  publicly 
exposed ;  but  the  smoker,  who  can  go  nowhere  without 
his  pipe  or  cigar,  bears  about  him  the  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  his  bondage. 

As  regards  our  last  topic  —  the  influence  of  tobacco  on 
morality  —  we  have  shown  that  no  inveterate  smokers  ob- 
serve the  Golden  Rule,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them."  They  not 
only  ignore  the  laws  of  courtesy,  but  defy  the  regulations 
of  public  companies.  In  spite  of  notices  at  railway  sta- 
tions and  elsewhere,  they  disgust  you  with  their  pipes ; 
and,  as  we  have  stated,  they  are  reckless  of  human  life, 
breaking  the  laws  which  forbid  these  practices  in  mines 


A   LECTURE   OAT  TOBACCO.  6 1 

and  other  dangerous  places.  This  lawlessness  does  not 
stop  here.  Those  who  fancy  that  tobacco  is  necessary  to 
them  —  even  boys  who  have  got  to  like  it  —  have  not 
hesitated  to  sneak  and  tell  falsehoods,  if  they  cannot  else 
indulge  in  it ;  to  swindle,  peculate,  and  steal,  that  they 
may  obtain  it.  There  may  be  cases  in  which  a  smoker 
may  suppose  that  he  has  gained  valuable  introductions  by 
his  habit,  but  the  rule  is  the  reverse.  Horace  Greeley 
remarked  :  "  I  do  not  say  that  every  smoker  or  chewer 
is  necessarily  a  blackguard,  however  steep  the  proclivity 
that  way ;  but  show  me  a  genuine  blackguard  who  is  not 
a  lover  of  tobacco  in  some  way,  and  I  will  show  you  two 
white  blackbirds."  Ruifians,  wife-beaters,  and  murderers 
have  soothed  themselves  after  their  crimes,  with  the  pipe, 
and  when  imprisoned  have  raved  —  not  at  the  ignominy, 
but  at  being  deprived  of  tobacco.'^ 

Some  smokers  among  my  audience  may  think  this  very 

1  "The  Daily  News  "  (November  12)  reported  that  some  boys 
from  a  Ramsgate  boardmg-school  came  over  to  Canterbury  to  play 
football  with  the  King's  School :  several  of  them  visited  tobacco- 
nists' shops,  and  two  boys  of  sixteen  were  noticed  to  have  in  their 
pockets  pipes  and  cigarettes,  which  they  had  not  paid  for.  They  were 
brought  before  the  police-court,  when  they  pleaded  guilty,  and 
were  let  off  with  fines  of  ^^5  each  and  costs.  We  wonder  what 
had  been  the  influence  of  parents  and  tutors  on  these  poor  de- 
graded lads.  The  superintendent  of  the  Reform  School  at  West- 
boro',  Mass.  (the  first  established  in  America),  states  that  all  the 
boys  committed  there  have  been  users  of  tobacco ;  and  it  is  the 
one  thing  that  gives  him  most  trouble  —  that  he  is  working  hardest 
to  extirpate. 

2  In  a  recent  article  in  "  The  Daily  Telegraph "  on  "  Life  at 
Portland  Convict  Prison,"  the  writer  gives  some  striking  illustra- 
tions of  the  fascination  which  tobacco  has  for  convicts  of  every 
degree,  who  will  risk  "  eighteen  lashes  with  the  cat "  to  obtain  a 
bit  of  it. 


62  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

exaggerated  and  unreal.     I  am  glad  if  they  feel  it  so, 
should  this  prove  that  they  are  not  yet  in  bondage. 

As  with  intoxicating  liquors,  only  a  minority  of  those 
who  use  them  exemplify  their  worst  evils.  Perhaps  there 
are  other  effects  of  which  they  may  not  be  unconscious. 
Ruskin  says  -}  "  It  is  not  easy  to  estimate  the  demoral- 
izing effect  on  the  youth  of  Europe  of  the  cigar,  in  en- 
abling them  to  pass  their  time  happily  in  idleness.  To- 
bacco is  the  worst  natural  curse  of  modern  civilization." 
Englishmen  are  not  naturally  Lazzaroni ;  they  like  either 
to  do  something,  or  to  seem  to  do  something.  When 
ladies  spend  their  leisure  hours  together,  they  have  their 
fancy-work  —  or  what  they  fancy  is  work.  Men  have  not 
this  resource,  and  feel  it  awkward  to  sit  and  do  nothing ; 
unless  they  have  some  exciting  theme  they  may  not  be 
ready  to  talk ;  when  they  smoke  they  feel  at  their  ease, 
for  they  are  doing  that  which  gives  them  no  trouble.  But 
indolence,  when  it  takes  the  guise  of  occupation,  is 
doubly  ensnaring.  No  one,  however,  will  accuse  Carlyle 
of  indolence,  and  after  his  wife's  death  "  he  lauded  tobac- 
co" (to  Mr.  W.  Maccall,  a  writer  in  "  The  Tobacco  Plant*') 
"  as  one  of  the  divinest  benefits  that  had  ever  come  to 
the  human  race,  .  .  .  when  social,  political,  religious 
anarchy,  and  every  imaginable  plague,  made  the  earth  un- 
speakably miserable."  But  those  of  healthful  mind  do  not 
find  "  the  earth  unspeakably  miserable,"  and  in  his  soberer 
mood  he  thus  describes  the  influences  of  tobacco  :  "  Gen- 
erally bad ;  pacificatory,  but  bad ;  engaging  you  in  idle 
cloudy  dreams  ;  still  worse,  .  .  .  soothing  all  things 
into  lazy  peace,  that  all  things  may  be  left  to  themselves 

1  "  The  Queen  of  the  Air,"  p.  91.  See  "Monthly  Letters,"  pp. 
190*  235. 


A  LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  63 

very  much,  and  to  the  laws  of  gravity  and  decomposi- 
tion."^ It  is  dangerous,  as  well  as  lazy,  to  say,  "'Peace, 
peace,'  when  there  is  no  peace."  It  is  this  which  has 
helped  the  downfall  of  those  Mohammedan  countries 
which  have  escaped  the  crimes  resulting  from  strong 
drink.  The  use  of  narcotics  has  increased  their  indo- 
lence, irresolution,  and  tendency  to  leave  "  all  things  to 
themselves,  very  much."  "What  can't  be  cured  must  be 
endured ; "  but  tobacco  helps  men  to  endure  that  which 
demands  a  cure,  till  at  length  the  cure  is  out  of  reach, 
and  endurance  fails.  Certainly  the  smoker  puts  the  en- 
durance of  others  to  the  test.  We  have  often  not  only 
to  imbibe  his  smoke,  but  to  bear  his  burdens.  Rate- 
payers may  well  complain  of  those  who  are  paupers 
through  their  own  fault.  Men  are  not  ashamed  to  keep 
their  children  from  school,  on  the  plea  that  they  cannot 
afford  twopence  or  fourpence  a  week,  while  they  spend 
sixpence  on  tobacco ;  they  care  more  for  their  pipe 
than  for  their  children  ;  and  if  some  good-natured  person 
pays  for  their  schooling,  he  has  the  pleasure  of  reflecting 
tfiat  in  reality  he  is  paying  for  their  father's  pipe.  We 
may  well  pity  a  hard-working  man,  with  a  load  of  cares 
which  he  longs  to  forget,  if  he  seeks  some  oblivion  in  his 
pipe  (only  we  know  that  the  cloud  of  smoke,  like  the  sand 
in  which  the  terrified  ostrich  hides  her  head,  gives  no 
escape  from  the  dangers  it  conceals)  ;  but  one's  pity  is 
mingled  with  another  feehng  when  we  see  young  fellows 
wasting  in  smoke  the  money  they  ought  to  save  for  their 
start  in  life,  wasting  the  time  in  which  they  might  store 
their  minds  with  useful  knowledge,  becoming  idle  dreamers 

1  "  Monthly  Letters,"  p.  186. 


64  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.' 

instead  of  robust  thinkers.-^  They  form  indolent  and  ex- 
pensive habits,  and  then  expect  their  purses  to  be  filled 
by  those  who  have  shown  more  self-denial  and  more  self- 
respect. 

Moderate  smoking,  like  moderate  drinking,  too  often 
leads  on  to  what  is  obviously  hurtful.  Temperance  con- 
sists in  keeping  to  the  rule  which  reason  approves ;  where 
reason  demands  abstinence,  any  indulgence  is  intempe- 
rate. As  wine  or  beer  is  to  spirits,  so  is  tobacco  to  opium. 
The  use  of  the  one  may  prepare  the  way  for  the  other.^ 
Those  who  seem  to  have  exhausted  the  relief  to  be 
gained  from  smoking,  often  addict  themselves  to  morphine 
or  to  chloral.  These  anaesthetics  are  becoming  danger- 
ously common ;  we  are  continually  hearing  of  their  fatal 
effects ;  and  when  woi7ien  resort  to  them,  whom  the  cus- 
toms of  society  debar  from  tobacco,  they  can  often  plead 
that  their  husbands  and  brothers  justify  the  use  of  narco- 
tics by  their  example. 

And  now  what  is  to  be  done  ?  Some  may  say  :  "  Do 
nothing ;  what  is  the  use  ?  The  more  foolish  you  show 
a  practice  to  be,  the  more  attractive  will  it  be  to  fools. 
There  have  been  laws  against  tobacco  ;  a  royal  '  Counter- 
blast '  against  it ;  the  remonstrances  of  divines,  physicians, 
and  shrewd  men  of  the  world  against  it;  and  yet  the 
habit  is  increasing  !  "    But  many  have  formed  it  without 

1  Sir  David  Brewster,  in  his  "  Life  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  "  (vol. 
ii.  p.  410),  records  that  the  great  philosopher,  "when  he  was  asked 
to  take  snuff  or  tobacco,  declined,  remarking  that  he  would  make 
no  necessities  to  himself." 

2  In  1843,  47,000  lbs.  of  opium  were  used  in  England ;  the  an- 
nual import  is  said  to  have  now  reached  about  400,000  lbs.  In  the 
United  States  the  Custom  House  returns  were  about  250,000  lbs. 
in  1877;  and,  in  1880,  516,600  lbs. 


A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  6$ 

having  been  warned  against  it ;  and  something  may  be  done 
to  induce  men  of  courage  and  principle  to  give  it  up, 
if  they  are  convinced  that  it  is  injurious,  and  to  check 
its  inroads  among  the  young.  In  doing  so  we  shall  have 
the  sympathy  of  many  smokers ;  for  as  pubhcans  dislike 
disreputable,  impoverished  drunkards,  so  the  patrons 
of  tobacco  are  disgusted  with  its  victims.  The  journal 
of  that  trade  —  ''  Cope's  Tobacco  Plant  " —  says  :  "  Few 
things  could  be  more  pernicious  to  boys,  growing  youths, 
and  persons  of  unformed  constitution,  than  the  use  of 
tobacco  in  any  of  its  forms."  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  after 
detailing  in  "The  Lancet"  some  of  the  ill  effects  of  to- 
bacco, adds  :  "  Boys  get  the  habit  of  smoking,  because 
they  think  it  manly  and  fashionable  to  do  so, —  not  unfre- 
quently  because  they  have  the  example  set  them  by  their 
tutors,  and  pardy  because  there  is  no  friendly  voice  to  warn 
them,  as  to  the  special  ill  consequences  to  which  it  may 
give  rise,  when  the  process  of  growth  is  not  yet  com- 
pleted." Teachers,  who  would  prepare  the  young  to  be 
manly  men,  must  warn  them,  both  by  precept  and  ex- 
ample, against  this  enfeebling  and  enslaving  practice.  In 
this  matter  parents  should  themselves  be  teachers.  In  the 
choice  of  companions  for  their  sons,  and  in  the  selection 
of  a  school,  they  should  not  only  consider  social  and  intel- 
lectual advantages,  but  whether  those  habits  are  counte- 
nanced which  may  be  very  injurious  to  their  physical  and 
moral  well-being. 

But  if  from  carelessness  or  despair,  or  from  a  dislike  to 
attack  habits  to  which  valued  friends  may  be  addicted,  we 
make  no  protest,^and  become  like  the  smokers,  "  soothed 
into  lazy  peace,"  what  may  happen?  Women  are  now 
asserting  their  claims  to  do  what  men  do.     We  are  told 

5 


66  A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO. 

that,  owing  to  the  facihties  afforded  by  some  grocers  and 
confectioners,  they  drifik  much  more  than  they  did.  Do 
we  wish  them  to  smoke?  Those  who  are  Hving  in  an 
atmosphere  narcotized  by  their  male  relatives  will  not  find 
it  difficult.  In  the  North  you  often  see  poor  women  with 
a  pipe.  If  it  is  so  very  soothing,  their  nerves  need  com- 
posing as  much  as  those  of  men ;  and  a  careworn  wife, 
whose  work  is  never  done,  may  want  the  comfort  as  much 
as  a  working-man.  Then  if  the  boys  smoke,  why  not 
the  girls  ^  and  little  children,  just  as  they  are  taught  by 
the  drinkers  to  drink?  Women  smoke  opium  in  China, 
and  tobacco  in  Russia,  Spanish  America,  and  elsewhere. 
In  New  Zealand  the  Maori  woman  clings  to  her  pipe  and 
weed.  Among  savages  in  Siberia  "  tobacco  is  their  first 
and  greatest  luxury;  women  and  children  all  smoke, 
the  latter  learning  the  accomplishment  as  soon  as  they  are 
able  to  toddle.^  In  Burmah  they  smoke  in  their  mother's 
arms.^  Is  this  what  we  want,  or  are  content  to  drift  to  ? 
This  is  what  we  may  come  to  if  we  make  no  opposing 
effort.  Much  will  depend  on  women  themselves ;  many 
have  been  accustomed  to  tolerate  smoking,  and  even  pro- 
fess to  like  it,  when  it  gives  pleasure  to  those  whom  they 
like.  A  poor  woman  would  be  blamed  if,  by  her  objection 
to  the  pipe,  she  drove  her  husband  to  the  public-house  ; 
but  this  should  not  be  the  alternative.  Smokers  are  yet 
to  be  found  who  find  more  delight  in  a  cheerful,  kindly 

1  "The  Daily  News,"  of  January  ii,  describes  the  abandoned 
girls,  many  of  them  very  young,  who  frequent  the  Rogues'  Walk 
after  midnight,  each  with  a  "  manly  cigar  "  in  her  mouth ;  "  the  last 
drain  of  ardent  spirits  and  the  fumes  of  tobacco  seem  to  have  com- 
pletely taken  away  from  them  the  last  vestige  of  shame." 

2  "Monthly  Letters,"  p.  191.  ^  "Narcotism,"  No.  46. 


A  LECTURE   ON-  TOBACCO.  67 

home  than  in  a  pipe.  If  it  is  a  mere  question  of  pleasure, 
he  or  she  is  most  to  be  commended  who  gives  up  to  the 
other.  But  when  the  serious  results  of  smoking  are  better 
understood,  true  affection  will  do  its  utmost  to  avert  them. 
We  all  recognize  the  influence  of  women  on  social  cus- 
toms ;  when  they  heartily  beheve  that  this  is  hurtful,  and 
even  dangerous,  as  well  as  of  ill-odor,  their  influence  will 
be  strong  to  discountenance  it. 

The  dehberate  opinion  of  the  medical  profession  will 
sustain  our  efforts,  whatever  may  be  the  habits  of  some  of 
its  members.  It  is  said  that,  as  regards  intoxicants,  they 
have  been  too  apt  to  consider  the  pleasure  of  their  patients, 
and  to  prescribe  that  which  may  lessen  a  passing  evil 
without  regard  to  subsequent  dangers ;  but  of  tobacco, 
they  will  usually  say  that  it  is  safest  to  abstain  from  it. 

In  my  youth  there  was  no  scruple  as  to  moderate  drink- 
ing, and  a  pipe  was  considered  a  suitable  appendage  to  a 
minister's  study.  Now  there  are  many  who  protest  against 
both,  and  some  American  Conferences  refuse  to  license, 
as  preachers,  those  who  take  the  license  of  the  weed.-^ 
Religious  men,  who  have  been  taught  to  flee  from  idolatry, 
have  been  conscience -stricken  when  it  was  brought  home 
to  them  that  the  pipe  was  their  idol,  asserting  its  claims 
over  those  of  social  duty  and  Divine  service.  If  those 
who  are  not  conscious  of  this  idolatry,  but  who  own  the 
obhgations  of  rehgion  and  morality,  would  look  on  smok- 
ing-customs,  not  on  their  playful  or  social  side,  but  with 
due  regard  to  their  unsocial  tyranny,  and  the  serious  evils 
attending  them,  they  would  more  frequently  make  it  a 
matter  of  conscience  to  abstain  from  them,  and  to  induce 
others  to  do  the  same.  If  they  feel  that  this  would  in- 
1  "Narcotism,"  No.  25;  "Monthly  Letters,"  p.  190. 


6S  A  LECTURE  017  TOBACCO. 

volve  much  self-sacrifice  on  their  part,  they  may  learn 
that  they  are  themselves  under  bondage. 

The  Temperance  movement  in  England  has  not  been 
strong  enough  to  counteract  the  effect  of  increased  means 
of  indulgence ;  more  is  drunk  now  than  when  it  com- 
menced ;  yet  it  has  saved  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  has 
done  much  to  enlighten  public  opinion,  to  weaken  bad 
customs,  and  to  influence  the  conduct  of  those  who  wish 
to  live  reasonably.  To  be  consistent,  it  should  resist  that 
which  intoxicates,^  whether  it  be  chewed  or  drunk,  whether 
smoked  or  snuffed.  That  smoking  checks  drinking  is  a 
delusion.  It  has  been  found,  in  districts  where  investiga- 
tions have  been  made  as  to  those  who  have  broken  their 
Temperance  pledges,  that  most  of  them  were  smokers.^ 
Since  all  wise  persons  wish  to  keep  the  young  from  the 
habit,  it  has  become  not  unusual  to  forbid  tobacco  to 
members  of  Bands  of  Hope  ;  ^  it  is  also  prohibited  in  Juve- 
nile Temples.  So  far,  so  good ;  but  if  a  boy  is  told  that 
he  must  not  smoke  till  he  is  sixteen,  is  it  not  in  boy-nature 
that  he  should  look  forward  to  it  as  a  manly  privilege  — 
unless  he  remembers  the  babies  in  Burmah  ? 

It  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  shopkeepers  are  question- 
ing whether  they  ought  to  deal  in  what  they  regard  as 
unwholesome  and  demorahzing.     A  tract,  entitled  "  Con- 

1  Tobacco-smoking  was  in  old  times  called  tobacco-drinking. 
Persons  are  sometimes  "  smoke-drunk."  See  "  Monthly  Letters," 
p.  264. 

2  "  May  Young  England  smoke  ?"  p.  21,  second  edition. 

3  "The  Band  of  Hope  Chronicle"  for  1880  and  18S1,  has  con- 
tained a  cjuarterly  "  Outline  Address  "  for  Bands  of  Hope,  on 
"  Tobacco,  and  its  Effects  ;  "  a  similar  series  will  appear  this  year. 
It  is  very  important  to  give  the  young  good  reasons  for  not  form- 
ing bad  habits. 


A   LECTURE   ON  TOBACCO.  69 

science  in  Business  "  gives  many  such  instances.  Some 
were  wakened  to  the  evil  after  selling  to  little  boys.  One 
reports  that,  though  he  has  turned  hundreds  of  tobacco- 
customers  away,  his  business  has  improved ;  another, 
whose  returns  from  tobacco  were  ;^ioo  a  week,  sent  a 
circular  to  his  customers  that  he  could  sell  it  no  longer. 
There  is  an  abstainer  in  Bridport  who  has  given  up  the 
sale.  David  would  not  offer  to  God  of  that  which  cost 
him  nothing,^  and  our  religious  convictions  demand  sacri- 
fices as  well  as  offerings  ! 

We  must  not  underrate  the  difficulties  attending  this 
reform.  It  is  no  easy  thing  for  those  who  are  enthralled 
by  tobacco  to  give  up  its  use.  When  this  is  compulsory, 
as  in  gaols,  or  when  they  have  been  almost  compelled  to 
do  it  by  their  doctors,  after  the  first  weeks  of  misery  are 
over  they  have  generally  found  their  health  improved. 
But  the  conflict  with  habit  is  always  hard.  Let  them  re- 
member the  penalties  of  defeat  and  the  glory  of  victory. 
He  that  ruleth  himself  is  "better  than  the  mighty;  "  and 
though  tobacco  is  but  a  weed,  he  who  can  trample  on  it 
may  prove  a  hero.  Never  despair  !  "  We  are  saved  by 
hope."  In  the  midst  of  craving  and  suffering,  he  who 
has  resolved  to  maintain  his  manhood  may  look  forward 
to  the  time  when  his  health  and  spirits  will  improve  ;  when 
he  will  not  be  a  nuisance  to  others,  nor  waste  his  best  sub- 
stance in  a  folly.  We  who  have  never  been  brought  under 
this  bondage  have,  on  our  part,  to  encourage  those  who 
would  be  free,  to  be  patient  with  the  irritability  and  ill- 
temper  which  sometimes  attends  the  effort  J  and  to  show 
that  good-fellowship  and  good-nature  and  cheerful  enjoy- 
ment are  most  natural  to  those  who  do  not  allow  them- 
1  2  Samuel  xxiv.  24. 


70  A   LECTURE  ON  TOBACCO. 

selves  in  that  which  they  condemn.  May  those  who  root 
out  the  weed  enjoy  the  flowers  and  gather  the  fruit ! 
They  shall  "  have  beauty  for  ashes,"  the  sweet  breath  of 
day  and  the  pure  light,  instead  of  poisonous  vapor  and 
clouds  of  smoke. 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

By  G.   F.   witter,   M.  D. 


A  REPORT  TO  THE  WISCONSIN  BOARD  OF  HEALTH, 
FOR  THE  YEAR  iS8i. 


TOBACCO  AND    ITS    EFFECTS. 


o>»ic 


T  N  this  age  it  becomes  more  and  more  the  aim  of  the 
^  sanitarian  to  search  out  the  avoidable  causes  of  sick- 
ness, and  to  admonish  the  people  to  order  their  lives  in 
accordance  with  Nature's  laws,  and  thus  avoid  many  evils 
that  otherwise  they  must  endure.  The  medical  profession 
has  had  much  to  do  in  relieving  the  suffering  in  the  world 
that  has  been  due  to  accident  or  indiscretion ;  but  it  has 
not  hitherto  taken  that  interest  in  discovering  and  endeav- 
oring to  remove  the  causes  of  ill-health  which  will  be  the 
foundation  of  a  large  part  of  the  medical  science  of  the 
immediate  future. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  there  are  at  present  many 
vast  and  wholly  unexplored  fields  in  the  province  of  pre- 
ventive medicine.  PubHc  hygiene  is  yet  in  its  infancy. 
Certain  forces  are  at  work  producing  illness,  and  a  huge 
amount  of  drugs  is  used  to  counteract  the  evil  tendencies 
thus  engendered ;  while  no  sufficient  attention  is  given  to 
the  causes  that  have  occasioned  the  sickness,  the  removal 
of  which  would  restore  health,  with  little  or  no  medicine. 
We  study  fully  the  symptoms  and  effects  of  disease,  but  we 
have  not  as  yet  investigated  its  sources  with  anything  like 


74  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


the  same  thoroughness.     The  communicable  diseases,  as 
scarlet-fever,  measles,   diphtheria,   yellow-fever,   &c.,    we 
know  by  their  manifestations ;  but  no  one  has  yet  made 
us  fully  acquainted  with  the  methods  by  which  they  invade 
the  human  system.     Some  may  have  undertaken  to  ex- 
plain their  mysteries,  but  nothing  more  has  been  accom- 
plished than  to  show  how  the  body  may   at  times  be 
prepared  for  the  invasions  of  disease,  as  the  ground  is  pre- 
pared by  ploughing  and  harrowing  for  the  reception  of 
the  seed.     We  do  not  yet  know  whether  a  given  disease 
is  developed  from  germs,  from  invisible  and  indefinable 
miasma,  or  through  tendencies  inherent  in  the  individual, 
or  whether  it  is  partly  or  wholly  due  to  long- continued 

habits  of  abuse.  . 

Impressed  with  the  ideas  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the'suffering  in  the  world  has  been  brought  about  by  igno- 
rance, not  only  among  the  wholly  uneducated,  but  also 
among  those  possessing  —  or  at  any  rate  claiming  the 
possession  of -a  higher  degree  of  cultivation,  a  larger 
amount  of  knowledge,  and  that  many  diseases,  the  origin 
of  which  is  regarded  as  obscure  and  mysterious,  are  really 
often  due  to  the  bad  habits  of  the  individual,  we  propose 
in  the  following  pages  to  discuss  the  effects  of  one  habit 
which  we  consider  a  bad  one,  i.e,  the  use  of  tobacco  and 
its  influence  on  health. 

It  is  well  known  that  tobacco  is  used  in  every  conceiv- 
able dose,  from  the  most  heroic  to  the  infinitesimal;  m 
every  nation  and  in  all  ranks  of  society  its  sway  is  estab- 
lished ;  the  gray-haired  patriarch  is  not  too  old,  nor  is  the 
boy  of  ten  too  young  to  be  its  willing  subject ;  alike  m  the 
filthiest  slums  and  byways,  and  in  the  promenades  and 
avenues  where  the  highest  fashion  and  the  most  polite 


TOBACCO   AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  75 

society  are  found,  it  is  present.  It  sits  in  our  legislative 
halls,  both  State  and  National ;  it  travels  by  every  convey- 
ance, on  land  and  water.  The  offices  of  the  lawyer  and 
physician  and  the  sanctum  of  the  clergyman  are  alike 
under  its  cloud.  The  coarse  and  blustering,  and  the  ele- 
gant, refined,  and  scholarly  are  equally  its  victims.  To- 
bacco's insidious  spell  has  fallen  upon  the  world,  and  the 
pipe,  the  cigar,  and  the  snuff-box  are  a  common  solace 
among  all  ranks  and  conditions  of  men. 

"  One  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  connected 
with  the  history  of  tobacco  is  the  rapidity  with  which  its 
growth  has  spread  and  its  consumption  increased."  The 
enormous  extent  to  which  its  use  has  attained  in  Great 
Britain  and  other  countries  is  briefly  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing figures  :  — 

In  Great  Britain  the  total  consumption  has  been  :  — 

"  1857 32,856,913  lbs. 

"  1867 40,720,767  " 

"  1875 49.951,830  " 

"  1880 50,000,000  " 

"  France  the  amount  entered  for  consumption 

in  1880  was 45,000,000  " 

"  Austria,  during  the  same  year  .     .     .     .  '  .  81,000,000  " 

"  Russia,        "        "       «        " 25,000,000  " 

The  extent  to  which  its  use  has  increased  in  our  own 
country  may  be  judged  with  tolerable  accuracy  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  census-returns,  given  herewith,  which  show 
the  tobacco-production  of  the  States  and  Territories  for 
the  census  years  1870  and  1880,  the  increase  being 
210,372,232  lbs.  during  the  decade,  or  rather  more  than 
eighty  per  cent.  These  figures  become  more  significant 
when  it  is  known  that  the  crop  of  1880  was  only  a  medium 


16 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


crop,  and  not  at  all  in  excess  of  the  present  requirements 
for  home-consumption  and  exportation. 

"Fifteen  States  produce  now,  as  in  1870,  more  than 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  tobacco  of  the  United  States ;  of 
these  fifteen,  only  Missouri,  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Massa- 
chusetts produce  less  than  in  1870.  Kentucky  occupies 
the  first  position,  producing  thirty-six  per  cent  of  the 
total  amount ;  Virginia  holds  the  second  place,  raising 
80,099,838  lbs.  against  60,000  lbs.  in  1862;  Pennsyl- 
vania has  advanced  from  the  twelfth  place  to  the  third, 
Wisconsin  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  tenth,  and  North  Caro- 
lina, Connecticut,  and  New  York  have  each  gained  one 
point,  making  North  CaroHna  sixth,  Connecticut  eighth, 
and  New  York  twelfth  in  the  rank  of  tobacco  States.  The 
changes  of  the  decade  may  appear  more  clearly  in .  the 
following  statement :  — 


A  Comparative  Statement,  showing  the  Tobacco  Product 
OF  THE  States  and  Territories  for  the  census-years 
1880  and  1870,  with  the  Acreage  of  1880. 


States  and  Territories. 

1880. 

1870. 

Acreage. 

Pounds. 

Pounds- 

Total 

Alabama     .     .     ..    .  ,  .     . 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

637,659 

473.107.573 

262,735,341 

2,198 

I 

2,064 

84 

452,556 

600 

970,220 

152,742 

100 

594,886 

63,809 

890 

8,328,798 

250 
157.405 

Connecticut 

Dakota 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia  ,     . 
Florida 

8,666 
7 
5 

102 

14,044,652 
2,107 

1.353 

1,400 

22,197 

TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


77 


C0MPAR.A.TIVE  Statement,  Continued. 


States  and  Territories. 


Georgia 

Idaho      

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky  .... 
Louisiana    .... 

Maine 

Maryland  .... 
Massachusetts  .  . 
Michigan  .... 
Minnesota  .... 
Mississippi  .  .  . 
Missouri  .... 
Montana  .... 
Nebraska    .... 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire  .  . 
New  Jersey  .  .  . 
New  Mexico  .  .  . 
New  York  .... 
North  Carolina    .     . 

Ohio 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania  .  .  . 
Rhode  Island  .  .  . 
South  Carolina  ,  . 
Tennessee  .... 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont  .... 
Virginia  .... 
Washington  Territory 
West  Virginia  .  . 
Wisconsin  .... 
Wyoming    .... 


1880. 


Acreage. 


1,057 
5.625 

11,955 
694 

334 

226,127 

264 

„     3 

38,174 
3,35^ 

167 

1,475 


106 

2 

88 

154 

10 

4,938 

57,215 

34,679 

46 

27,567 

41,532 
702 


83 

139,423 

9 

4,071 
8,811 


Pounds. 


231,198 

400 

3,936,700 

8,872,842 

420,722 

191,749 

I7i,i2[,i34 

56,564 

.      o      350 

26,082,147 

5,369,436 

70,389 

415,248 

11,994,077 


58,589 

1,500 

170843 

171,405 

1,249 

6,553-351 

26,986,448 

34,725,405 

17,860 

36,957,772 

46,144 

29,365,052 

222,398 


131,422 
80,099,838 

7,072 

2,296,146 

10,878,463 


1870. 


Pounds. 


288,596 

5,249,274 

9^325,392 

71,792 

33.241 

105,305,869 

15,541 

„        15 

15,785,339 

7,312,885 

5,385 

8,247 

61,012 

12,320,483 

600 

5,988 

25 

155,334 

40,871 

8,587 

2,349798 

11,150,087 

18,741,973 

3,847 

3,467,539 

796 

34,805 

21,465,452 

59,706 


72,671 
37,086,364 

1,682 

2,046,452 

960,813 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


78 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  amount  of  money  expended 
and  changing  hands  for  tobacco,  in  this  country  alone,  is 
enormous  ;  allowing  ten  cents  per  pound  for  the  raw  ma- 
terial in  1880,  it  reached  the  sum  of  ^47,3io,757-30.  ^nd 
this  only  on  the  first  change  from  the  producer's  mto  the 
manufacturer's  hands,  to  say  nothing  of  the  added  value 
given  to  it  in  the  factory,  and  the  added  cost  due  to  the 
revenue  tax.     What  more  effectual  argument  can  be  made 
by  the  economist  than  the  simple  presentation  of  these 
ficrures?    The  official  returns  show  that  in  Germany,  Spam, 
Holland  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  tobacco  costs 
more  than  bread.     "  A  single  firm  in  New  York  paid  to 
the  government  in  ofie  month  in  1880,  a  revenue  tax  ot 
^120  000  !    The  average  monthly  tax  paid  by  this  house 
for  Internal  Revenue  is  over  ^100,000.     The  shipment  of 
of  snuff  by  this  concern  to  one  city  in  North  Carolina 
amounts  to  one  hundred  pounds  per  month."     We  learn 
from  the  Internal  Revenue  Reports  that  more  than  nmety- 
five  miUion  pounds  of  manufactured  tobacco,   and   one 
bilion,  three  hundred  miUions  of  cigars  are  used  m  the 
United  States  every  year,  at  an  expense  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  while  the  revenue  tax  amounts 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars.     In  the  city 
of  New  York  alone,  about  seventy-five  millions  of  cigars 
are  annually  consumed  at  a  cost  of  more  than  nine  miUions 

of  dollars. 

Now  we  do  not  assume  that  this  outlay  is  wrong  because 
it  is  so  enormous.  There  is  said  to  be  no  better  use  for 
money,  as  a  general  thing,  than  to  "spend  it  as  one  goes 
alon-  "  This,  however,  is  a  question  of  spendmg  money 
to  the  best  advantage  ;  there  ought  to  be  no  doubt  m  re- 
gard to  the  character  of  any  personal  indulgence  which 


TOBACCO  AA^D  ITS  EFFECTS.  79 

draws  so  largely  upon  the  resources,  usually  moderate  in 
American  homes,  on  which  the  whole  family  depends, 
from  which  must  come  whatever  its  members  have  of  edu- 
cation, recreation,  &c., — in  short  all  that  gives  form  and 
tone  to  character ;  and  more  than  this,  "  No  man  is  so 
rich  that  he  has  a  right  to  spend  money  to  his  own  or  hris 
fellow's  undoing." 

If,  moreover,  it  shall  become  apparent  on  analysis  that 
there  is  an  actual  food-value  to  tobacco,  or  if  it  prove 
a  health-producing  agency,  or  even  a  valuable  luxury, 
the  enormous  tax  above  referred  to  will  not  appear  so  ap- 
palling. And  this  suggests  a  reference  to  the  chemical 
constitution  of  tobacco. 

The  constituents  which  chiefly  give  tobacco  its  peculiar 
characteristics  are  :  an  alkaloid  called  Nicotina ;  a  substance 
called  Nicotianin  or  Tobacco-camphor,  of  which  little  is 
known  (but  concerning  which  it  has  been  noted  that  upon 
the  greater  or  less  proportion  of  it  depends  the  estimation 
in  which  a  given  sample  of  tobacco  is  held,  the  choicest 
tobaccos  containing  the  largest  percentage)  ;  and  an 
emp}Teumatic  oil  of  complex  constitution.  The  alkaloid, 
nicotina,  has  the  odor  of  tobacco,  and  possesses  very 
poisonous  quahties ;  in  this  respect  it  is  equal  to  prussic 
acid,  a  single  drop  being  sufficient  to  kill  a  dog.  "Its 
vapor  is  so  irritating  that  it  is  difficult  to  breathe  in  a  room 
where  a  single  drop  has  been  vaporized."  Nicotina 
taken  internally  in  very  minute  quantity  produces  great 
muscular  depression,  occasionally  convulsions,  and  at  last 
paralysis  and  death.  The  proportion  of  this  substance 
contained  in  the  dry  leaf  of  tobacco  varies  from  two  to 
seven  per  cent.  Besides  these  tvvo  volatile  substances 
existing  in  the  leaf,  ready  formed,  there  is  another  of  an 


8o  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


oily  nature,  produced  when  the  tobacco  is  distilled  alone 
in  a  retort,  and  to  a  certain  extent  also  when  it  is  burned 
in  a  pipe ;  it  is  acrid  and  disagreeable  in  taste,  and  has 
narcotic  and  poisonous  properties.  One  drop  applied  to 
the  tongue  of  a  cat  caused  convulsions,  followed  by 
death  in  ten  minutes. 

There  are  various  adulterations  of  tobacco,  especially 
in  countries  where  high  duties  hold  out  a  temptation  to 
fraud.  The  leaves  of  other  plants,  dried  and  flavored 
with  tobacco-extract,  are  frequently  found  in  manufactured 
tobacco;  paper  and  hay  are  sometimes  used,  but  the 
more  common  adulterants  are  said  to  be  the  leaves  of 
rhubarb,  dock,  burdock,  cabbage,  &c.  "It  is  not  sur- 
prising, therefore,  to  meet  with  manufactured  tobaccos 
possessing  a  thousand  different  flavors,  for  which  the 
chemistry  of  the  leaf  can  in  no  way  account." 

"  Extensively  as  tobacco  is  used,  it  is  remarkable  how 
very  few  persons  can  state  distinctly  the  effects  which  it 
produces  upon  them,  —  why  they  began  and  for  what 
reason  they  continue  the  indulgence.  If  the  reader  be  a 
user  of  tobacco,  let  him  ask  himself  these  questions,  and 
he  will  probably  be  surprised  to  note  how  unsatisfactory 
the  answers  he  receives  will  be.  Indeed,  few  have  cared 
to  analyze  their  sensations  while  under  its  influence,— or,  if 
they  have  analyzed  them,  have  cared  to  tell  truly  what 
kind  of  enjoyment  it  is  which  they  seek  in  its  use." 

Turning  to  another  branch  of  the  subject,  and  examin- 
ing more  fully  the  physiological  effects  of  tobacco,  we 
find  that  physiologists  are  not  agreed  in  regard  to  the 
peculiar  mode  of  its  action.  The  nerves  are  considered 
by  some  as  being  probably  the  principal  medium,  but  the 
cases  on  record  where  death  has  been  produced  by  the 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


application  of  small  quantities  to  wounds,  would  indicate 
that  the  process  is  more  complex.  The  whole  subject 
of  the  physiological  action  of  tobacco  is  so  complicated 
that  but  little  is  really  known  concerning  it ;  there  is,  it  is 
said,  a  remarkable  difference  between  the  action  of  the 
alkaloid  and  the  essential  oil,  the  one  of  which  possesses 
the  power  of  paralyzing  the  heart's  action,  while  the  other 
has  no  such  property.  Given  to  a  person  in  ordinarily 
good  health  but  unaccustomed  to  its  use,  tobacco,  either 
chewed  or  smoked,  causes  distressing  sickness  at  the 
stomach,  fulness  at  the  head,  and  frequently  ringing  in 
the  ears  and  giddiness,  relaxation  of  the  bowels,  partial 
paralysis  of  the  sphincter  muscles,  especially  those  of  the 
large  intestine,  and  other  equally  serious  effects.  These 
conditions  are  not  all  met  with  in  each  case,  but  a  suf- 
ficient number  is  always  present  to  startle  any  one  who 
sees  them  for  the  first  time. 

Persons  of  a  nervous  temperament  have  found  it  im- 
possible, for  a  long  time  after  beginning  the  use  of  tobacco, 
to  indulge  in  it  without  experiencing  decidedly  unpleasant 
sensations.  Dr.  Pereira  says  that  "  in  small  doses  tobacco 
causes  a  sensation  of  heat  in  the  throat,  and  sometimes  a 
feeling  of  warmth  in  the  stomach.  These  effects  are  less 
obvious  when  the  agent  is  taken  in  liquid  form  and  largely 
diluted.  By  repetition  it  usually  acts  as  a  diuretic,  and 
less  frequently  as  a  laxative.  Accompanying  these  effects 
are  often  nausea,  and  a  peculiar  feeling  usually  described  as 
giddiness, —  scarcely  according,  however,  with  the  ordinary 
acceptation  of  that  term.  In  larger  doses  it  produces 
nausea,  vomiting,  and  purging;  though  it  seldom  gives 
rise  to  abdominal  pain,  it  produces  a  most  distressing 
sensation  of  uneasiness  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach.     It 

6 


82  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

occasionally  acts  as  an  anodyne,  or  more  rarely  promotes 
sleep.  But  its  most  remarkable  effects  are  languor,  ful- 
ness, relaxation  of  the  muscles,  trembling  of  the  limbs, 
great  anxiety,  and  tendency  to  faint.  Vision  is  frequently 
obscured ;  the  ideas  are  confused,  and  the  pulse  is  small 
and  weak ;  respiration  is  somewhat  laborious  ;  the  surface 
is  cold  and  clammy,  or  covered  with  a  cold  sweat,  and  in 
extreme  cases,  convulsive  movements  are  observed.  In 
excessive  doses  the  effects  are  of  the  same  kind,  but  more 
violent  in  degree.  The  more  prominent  symptoms,  in 
addition  to  those  already  noted,  are  extreme  weakness  and 
relaxation,  depression  of  the  vascular  system  (manifested 
by  feeble  pulse,  pallor,  cold  sweat,  and  tendency  to  faint), 
convulsive  movements  followed  by  paralysis,  and  a  kind 
of  torpor,  sometimes  terminating  in  death." 

One  would  suppose  that  a  substance  producing  such 
effects  as  those  just  described  at  the  beginning  of  its 
use  would  be  very  soon  abandoned.  ''  Nothing,  however, 
with  mankind  appears  so  attractive  as  a  habit  surrounded 
by  all  the  attributes  which  lift  it  into  the  dignity  of  a 
fashion." 

The  enormous  consumption  of  tobacco  in  our  country, 
heretofore  mentioned,  has  been  ascertained  from  the 
yearly  returns  of  the  revenue  officers ;  but  the  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  deterioration  resulting  therefrom  admit 
of  no  such  tangible  analysis.  These,  although  sure,  are 
slow  and  imperceptible  in  their  development,  and  it  is 
therefore  impossible  to  estimate  the  amount  of  the  injury 
which  tobacco  thus  inflicts  upon  the  public  welfare.  We 
cannot  do  better  in  this  connection  than  quote  the 
remarks  of  Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson,  an  eminent  prac- 
titioner, whose  researches  are  taken  by  Chambers  as  the 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  83 

basis  of  his  treatise  on  tobacco.  Richardson  declares 
"  that  in  the  confirmed  smoker  there  is  a  constant  func- 
tional disturbance  which  extends  to  the  blood,  the 
stomach,  the  heart,  the  lungs,  the  brain,  and  the  nerves." 
That  does  not  leave  much  of  the  man  except  his  hair  and 
his  bones.  He  says  further  that  *^the  use  of  tobacco 
gives  a  doubtful  pleasure  for  a  certain  penalty,  —  that  so 
long  as  the  practice  is  continued  the  smoker  is  out  of 
health ;  his  stomach  only  partially  digests ;  his  heart 
labors  unnaturally ;  his  blood  is  not  fully  oxygenized." 

Dr.  Hassall  says :  "  Tobacco  owes  its  chief  properties 
to  the  presence  of  two  principles,  both  of  which  produce 
the  worst  possible  effects  upon  the  human  system,  when 
taken  pure."  Both  of  these  active  principles  have  been 
shown  by  Zeise  and  Milsens  to  be  present  in  the  smoke  of 
tobacco ;  they  are  therefore  not  destroyed  by  the  com- 
bustion of  tobacco,  whether  in  the  form  of  cigars  or  when 
used  in  a  pipe.  They  are  inhaled  in  the  act  of  smoking, 
and  thus  are  taken  into  the  lungs  and  stomach ;  especially 
is  this  the  case  when  the  saliva,  impregnated  with  smoke, 
is  swallowed.  That  these  active  constituents  are  actually 
absorbed,  and  make  their  way  into  the  system,  is  further 
proved  by  the  sickness,  giddiness  and  death-like  faintness 
experienced  by  those  unaccustomed  to  smoking;  the 
difference  in  the  effects  in  the  case  of  habitual  smokers 
being  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  system  becomes  inured 
to  the  use  of  tobacco,  and  therefore  grows  less  susceptible 
to  its  influence. 

Dr.  Prout  says :  "  Tobacco  disorders  the  assimilative 
functions  in  general,  but  particularly,  as  I  beHeve,  the 
assimilation  of  the  saccharine  principles.  I  have  never 
been  able,  indeed,  to  trace  the  development  of  oxalic 


84  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

acid  to  the  use  of  tobacco ;  but  that  some  analogous  and 
equally  poisonous  principle  is  generated  in  certain  indi- 
viduals by  its  abuse,  is  evident  from  their  cachectic  looks, 
and  from  the  dark,  and  often  greenish-yellow  tint  of  the 
blood.  That  severe  and  peculiar  dyspeptic  symptoms  are 
sometimes  produced  by  inveterate  snuff-taking  is  known, 
and  I  have  more  than  once  seen  such  cases  terminate 
fatally  with  malignant  disease  of  the  stomach  and  liver. 
Great  smokers,  also,  especially  those  who  use  short  pipes 
and  cigars,  are  said  to  be  liable  to  cancerous  affections  of 
the  lips.  But  it  happens  with  tobacco,  as  with  deleterious 
articles  of  diet, —  the  strong  and  healthy  suffer  compar- 
atively little,  while  the  weak  and  predisposed  to  disease 
fall  victims  to  its  poisonous  operation.  Surely,  if  the 
dictates  of  reason  were  allowed  to  prevail,  an  article  so 
injurious  to  health,  and  so  offensive  in  all  its  forms  and 
modes  of  employment,  must  speedily  be  banished  from 
common  use." 

Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  in  his  "  Physiological  Researches," 
published  in  1854,  says  :  "  We  may  conclude  that  the  em- 
pyreumatic  oil  of  tobacco  occasions  death  by  destroying 
the  functions  of  the  brain,  without  directly  acting  on  the 
circulation.  In  other  words,  its  effects  are  similar  to  those 
of  alcohol,  the  juice  of  aconite,  and  the  essential  oil  of 
almonds."  This  testimony  might  be  greatly  increased, 
were  it  necessary  or  desirable  to  add  to  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  and  friends  of  tobacco 
consider  it  a  harmless  luxury,  and  hold  that  "  it  soothes 
irritated  nerves,  clears  and  sharpens  the  exhausted  intel- 
lect, fills  an  indefinable  vacancy,  produces  a  satisfied  and 
calm  condition  of  the  mind,  dispels  loneliness,  relieves 
weariness,  and  induces  repose."     They  assert  that  its  bad 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  85 

effects  are  only  transient,  that  no  organic  lesions  are  ever 
to  be  obsen-ed  which  can  be  certainly  traced  to  its  use. 
In  answer  to  all  of  which  Dr.  T.  F.  Rumbold  says  :  ''  It 
is  seen  that  the  system  must  be  in  a  more  or  less  vigorous 
condition  to  allow  of  the  use  of  tobacco,  plainly  proving 
that  it  is  a  depressor  of  the  nervous  system ;  it  as  plainly 
follows  that  it  is  while  the  depression  process  is  going  on, 
that  the  pleasurable  feehng  is  experienced."  It  does  not 
soothe  the  nerves,  until  by  its  primary  effects  it  has  first 
irritated  them  ;  it  would  of  course  be  absurd  to  say  that  it 
soothes  un-irritated  nerves.  It  cannot  clear  and  sharpen 
the  exhausted  intellect  until  it  has  first  beclouded  and 
dulled  the  intellect.  It  cannot  fill  an  indefinable  va- 
cancy, until  it  has  caused  this  vacancy.  It  cannot  induce 
a  calm  and  satisfied  condition  of  the  mind,  except  it  has 
first  induced  a  restless  and  unsatisfied  condition,  nor  can 
it  induce  repose  until  it  has  caused  sleeplessness.  Will 
the  lad  who  has  just  smoked  his  first  pipe  or  cigar  say 
that  it  has  soothed  his  ner\-es,  cleared  and  sharpened  his 
intellect,  satisfied  and  calmed  his  mind,  or  induced  repose  ? 
Even  though  his  nerves  were  irritated,  his  intellect  dull 
and  exhausted,  his  mind  restless,  and  his  eyes  sleepless, 
has  his  cigar  given  him  the  least  rehef  ?  What  evidence 
have  we,  beyond  the  assertions  of  the  users  of  tobacco 
whose  nen-es  are  already  perv^erted,  that  the  exhilaration 
of  which  they  tell  us  causes  any  greater  enjoyment  of  life 
than  would  have  been  experienced  had  tobacco  never 
been  known?  Is  the  consumer  of  a  narcotic,  who  is  fully 
under  its  influence,  in  a  fit  condition  to  judge  whether  or 
not  he  enjoys  Kfe  better  in  consequence  of  his  indulgence? 
If  his  sensibilities  are  perverted,  is  not  his  judgment  also 
perverted  with  respect  to  those  sensibilities  ? 


86  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

There  seems  to  be  little  room  for  doubt  that  tobacco 
perpetrates  a  most  successful  deception  upon  its  users,  by 
inducing  them  to  believe  that  its  effects  are  exhilarating, 
when  the  so-called  exhilaration  is  in  fact  only  the  sensation 
ofreHef  from  its  primary  effects,  and  a  hallucination  brought 
on  by  the  narcotic  and  perverting  action  of  tobacco  on 
the  sympathetic  nerves.  Had  I  not  used  tobacco  my- 
self to  excess  during  fifteen  years,  I  should  not  be  able 
to  speak  so  definitely  with  regard  to  its  effects. 

The  dangers  and  the  injuries  already  discussed,  as  re- 
sulting from  the  use  of  tobacco,  are  manifest ;  but  there 
is  an  effect  not  yet  mentioned,  which  threatens  ultimately 
to  produce  a  great  national  calamity  —  nothing  less  than 
a  tendency  to  gradual  enfeeblement  of  mind,  progres- 
sive loss  of  intellectual  power  and  vigor.  That  this  is  no 
chimera,  known  and  well-proven  facts  will  testify. 

In  1862  Napoleon  III.  of  France  had  his  attention 
called  to  the  facts  that  there  were  more  than  five  times  as 
many  paralytics  and  lunatics  in  the  hospitals  of  France  as 
there  were  in  proportion  to  the  population  thirty  years 
before,  and  that  the  government  revenue  from  the  tobacco 
monopoly  had  increased  during  that  time  in  about  an 
equal  ratio.  He  appointed  a  commission  of  scientific 
men,  to  examine  whether  this  were  a  case  of  cause  and 
effect  or  only  a  coincidence.  This  commission  devoted 
much  time  and  attention  to  the  young  men  in  the  govern- 
ment training-schools,  dividing  the  students  into  two 
classes  —  the  smokers  and  the  non-smokers.  The  latter 
were  found  so  much  superior  physically,  mentally,  and 
morally,  that  the  Emperor  at  once  prohibited  the  use  of 
tobacco  by  students  in  all  the  schools  under  govern- 
mental supervision  throughout  the  country. 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  8/ 

But  we  are  not  compelled  to  consult  the  statistics  of 
Europe  in  order  to  present  examples  of  this  kind. 

Probably  as  conclusive  evidence  as  the  most  exacting 
can  demand,  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  smoking  upon  the 
constitution  of  the  young,  and  even  the  most  vigorous 
among  the  young,  is  to  be  found  in  the  testimony  given 
by  the  action  of  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  Naval 
School  at  Annapolis,  and  those  of  the  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point.  It  is  well  known  that  only  lads  who  are  close 
approximations  to  physical  perfection  can  pass  the  rigor- 
ous examination  to  which  all  candidates  for  admission  are 
subjected  at  these  institutions ;  if  such  boys  as  are  there 
to  be  seen  cannot  endure  the  strain  which  tobacco  puts 
upon  them,  it  is  fair  to  ask,  who  can?  Yet,  after  a  full 
trial  of  the  experiment,  extending  over  the  period  of 
three  years,  we  find  Dr.  Gihon,  Medical  Director  of  the 
United  States  Na\y,  using  the  following  language  in 
regard  to  the  use  of  tobacco  at  the  Naval  School :  — 

"  I  have  urged  upon  the  superintendent,  as  my  last  official  utter- 
ance before  leaving  this  institution,  the  fact  —  of  the  truth  of  which 
five  years'  experience  as  health-officer  of  this  station  has  satisfied 
me  —  that,  beyond  all  other  things,  the  future  health  and  usefulness 
of  the  lads  educated  at  this  school  require  the  actual  interdiction  of 
tobacco.  In  this  opinion  I  have  been  sustained,  not  only  by  all  my 
colleagues,  but  by  all  other  sanitarians,  in  military  and  civil  life, 
whose  views  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  while  I  know  it  to  be  the 
belief  of  the  officer  who  is  to  succeed  me  in  the  charge  of  this  de- 
partment, and  who  was  one  of  the  board  of  medical  officers  which  in 
1875  reported  '  that  the  regulations  against  the  use  of  tobacco  in  any 
form  cannot  be  made  too  stringent.'  Since  three  successive  annual 
boards  of  visitors  have  indorsed  the  prohibition  of  tobacco  as  a 
'wise  sanitary  provision,'  and  the  last  of  these  boards,  on  being 
informed  that  the  regulation  against  its  use  was  not  then  in  opera- 
tion (June   10,  1879),  emphatically  recommended  that  'its  strict 


88  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

enforcement  be  at  once  restored.'  .  .  .  An  agent  .  .  .  that  is  act- 
ually capable  of  such  potent  evil,  .  .  .  which  determines  func- 
tional disease  of  the  heart,  which  impairs  vision,  blunts  the 
memory,  and  interferes  with  mental  effort  and  application,  ought, 
in  my  opinion  as  a  sanitary  officer,  at  whatever  cost  of  vigilance, 
to  be  rigorously  interdicted.  .  .  .  The  difficulty  of  restraining 
smoking  should  be  no  more  valid  excuse  for  its  tolerance,  in  the 
face  of  sanitary  objections  of  such  magnitude,  than  for  the  tolera- 
tion of  '  frenching  or  gouging  or  hazing.'  The  use  of  stimulating 
liquors  is  forbidden,  but  that  the  regulation  prohibiting  it  is  evaded 
is  shown  by  the  empty  whiskey  bottles  which  are  picked  up  outside 
the  cadets'  quarters  ;  but  it  is  not  proposed  to  allow  drinking  on 
this  account,  although,  as  a  sanitary  fact,  a  half-pint  of  table  claret 
or  of  beer  would  be  a  wiser  indulgence  than  a  cigar,  or  the  in- 
numerable cigarettes,  —  which  latter,  there  is  good  reason  to  be- 
lieve, cause  injury  to  the  health  from  other  agents  than  the  mere 
tobacco  which  they  may  contain. 

"  I  have  dwelt  at  such  length  on  this  topic,  feeling  assured  that 
I  shall  have  done  no  act  of  greater  good  to  this  school,  in  the  suc- 
cess of  which  I  have  so  profound  an  interest,  than  if  I  can  succeed 
in  saving  its  pupils  from  the  impairment  of  health  which  is  sure  to 
result  from  the  unrestrained  premature  use  of  tobacco." 

We  doubt  not  that  many  a  parent  in  this  broad  land 
thanked  Dr.  Gihon,  from  his  inmost  heart,  for  the  exhibit 
of  the  evils  following  on  the  use  of  tobacco  by  growing 
boys,  however  robust,  made  in  the  paper  from  which  the 
above  extracts  are  quoted.  And  Rear-Admiral  Rodgers 
deserved  their  gratitude  no  less  when  he  issued  the  follow- 
ing order,  which  explains  itself :  — 

"  U.  S.  Naval  Academy,  Annapolis,  Md.,  Jicne  14,  1881. 
"  Order  No.  i. 

"  The  experiment  of  permitting  the  Naval  Cadets  to  smoke  at 
the  Naval  Academy,  having  been  fairly  tried  for  nearly  three  years, 
has  been  found  injurious  to  their  health,  discipline,  and  powers  of 
study. 

"  The  Medical  Officers  of  the  Academy,  and  the  Academic  Board, 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  89 

urge  in  the  strongest  terms  that  this  permission  to  smoke  be 
revoked. 

"  Therefore,  with  the  consent  of  the  Honorable,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  I  have  to  forbid  the  further  use  of  tobacco  by  the 
Naval  Cadets,  and  to  declare  that  the  prohibition  in  relation  to 
tobacco,  contained  in  paragraph  169  of  the  Naval  Academy  Regula- 
tions, will  be  strictly  enforced. 

(Signed)  "  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers,  Rear-Admiral,  Sup't:" 

And  not  only  at  the  Naval  School  has  this  salutary  ac- 
tion been  taken.  "  The  recommendation  of  the  Academic 
Board  that  paragraph  129,  Regulations  of  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  of  1877,  be  expunged,  and  that 
the  following  be  substituted  for  it :  The  use  of  tobacco  in 
any  fo?'?7i  by  Cadets  is  prohibited ;  has  been  approved  by 
the  Secretary  of  War.  General  Order  No.  6.  June  11, 
1881,  Headquarters  U.  S.  Military  Academy." 

If  youth  be  the  flower  of  a  nation,  and  if  it  be  in  the 
flower  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  promise  of  the  future 
fruit,  surely  no  wiser  steps  could  have  been  taken  than 
those  indicated  in  the  two  orders  just  quoted  —  orders 
which,  being  enforced,  \vill  certainly  increase  the  vigor  even 
of  the  elect  of  our  youth  who  constitute  the  membership" 
of  these  two  great  national  schools,  and  can  hardly  fail  at 
the  same  time  to  confer  on  them  the  graces  of  an  added 
refinement. 

Another  point  connected  with  the  use  of  tobacco,  the 
consideration  of  which  no  physician  can,  and  no  parent 
ought  to  overlook,  is  that  of  heredity  —  the  question  of 
the  transmission  of  various  traits,  not  only  to  the  imme- 
diate descendants,  but  to  those  more  remote.  This 
question  is  so  extensive,  and  involves  such  important 
considerations  of  family  entailments  and  social  and  race 
deterioration  or  elevation,  that  we  trust  we  shall  be  par- 


90  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

doned  for  dwelling  upon  it  a  little,  the  more  especially  as 
the  records  of  our  insane  asylums  point  clearly  to  some 
cause  for  the  rapid  increase  of  brain  and  neurotic  troubles. 
Should  this  cause  prove  to  be  the  abuse,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  use  of  tobacco,  we  may  yet  find  that  the  germs  of 
premature  decay,  thus  widely  spread  over  the  land,  are 
more  dangerous  than  those  other  germs  of  whose  deadly 
powers  we  have  of  late  years  heard  not  a  little. 

It  is  a  fact  within  the  experience  of  every  one,  that  a 
scar  upon  the  body  remains  practically  indelible  through 
life  ;  that  it  can  neither  be  washed  out  nor  worn  out ;  that 
in  spite  of  all  the  changes  incident  to  growth  and  waste 
and  repair,  notwithstanding  the  continual  flux  of  particles, 
it  is  constantly  and  accurately  reproduced.  A  child  is 
born,  and  meets,  it  may  be  in  years  of  infancy,  with  some 
accidental  injury  which  causes  destruction  of  tissue  and  a 
consequent  scar;  that  scar  remains  to  mark  the  site  of 
the  injury  through  the  whole  existence  of  the  individual, 
goes  with  him  into  his  coffin,  and  remains  to  prove  his 
physical  identity  until  the  body  decays.  But  not  one 
single  particle,  of  all  the  many  particles  that  went  to  make 
up  the  body  of  the  child  at  the  time  the  injury  was 
received,  was  buried  with  the  body  of  the  man  when  at 
last  he  died.  Something  reproduced  that  scar,  however, 
as  the  body  grew,  and  as  the  system  threw  off  particle 
after  particle,  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour,  until  the 
renewal  was  completed,  then  only  to  be  recommenced ; 
and  that  something  which  constituted  the  identity  of  the 
man  was  injured  by  the  accident  which  produced  the  scar- 
ring. Here  is  a  mysterious  fact,  but  none  the  less 
incontrovertible,  right  before  every  one  of  us  each  day ; 
and  what   is   true    of    the    comparatively   coarse    outer 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  9 1 

integuments  of  skin  and  muscle,  is  also  true  of  the  mar- 
vellously delicate  tissues  that  go  to  make  up  brain  and 
nervous  system.  Our  great  psychologists  seem  tending 
toward  the  conclusion,  which  some  at  least  among  them 
have  fully  adopted,  that  the  characteristics,  mental  and 
physical,  which  distinguish  whole  families,  in  some  cases 
whole  tribes  and  nations,  are  attributable  to  alterations  of 
tissue,  which  partake  very  much  of  the  nature  of  the  altera- 
tion produced  by  an  injury  which  we  call  a  scar,  and 
which,  when  affecting  the  deHcate  nervous  and  cerebral 
tissues,  may  be  transmitted  from  one  generation  to  another. 
"The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's 
teeth  are  set  on  edge." 

Men  cannot  live  without  acquiring  habits;  and  these 
habits,  which  react  on  bodily  conformation  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  do  the  same  thing,  it  is  highly  probable,  on 
the  mind.  Who  can  doubt,  that  has  ever  hstened  to  an 
old  man  telling  for  the  hundredth  time  some  story  of  his 
younger  days,  that  the  habit  of  telling  has  induced  some 
permanent  effect  on  his  brain-tissue  —  that  the  mind  is 
moving,  as  it  were,  in  a  groove  ?  And  who  can  doubt  that 
habit,  whether  good  or  bad,  acts  upon  every  one  much 
in  the  same  way,  producing  grooves  which  are  made  deep 
and  yet  deeper  by  every  repetition  of  the  habitual  action ; 
which,  in  its  turn,  is  thus  rendered  more  and  more  easy, 
until  it  at  last  becomes  automatic,  instinctive,  practically 
a  part  of  the  organization  of  the  individual,  ready  to  be 
transmitted  to  his  offspring,  and  through  them,  it  may  be 
in  an  intensified  form,  to  distant  generations  ? 

Thus  when  the  appetite  for  tobacco  is  fully  established  — 
as  it  has  been,  in  instances  almost  innumerable,  when  an 
individual  has  come  so  fully  under  its  influence  that  to 


92  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

forego  its  indulgence  is  an  impossibility — there  can  be  little 
room  for  doubt  that  some  change  has  been  brought  about 
in  his  organization,  that  may  be,  and  very  possibly  often  is, 
transmitted  to  his  children.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  too 
much  to  say  that  a  child  of  the  second  generation  will 
come  into  the  world  with  an  appetite  for  tobacco  fully 
formed ;  but  it  seems  exceedingly  probable  that,  with  this 
or  any  similar  habit  firmly  fixed  in  the  father,  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  system  has  been  brought  about,  which  may  be 
transmitted  in  a  less  decided  degree  to  the  child,  for  whom 
the  formation  of  the  habit  or  the  acquisition  of  the  appe- 
tite is  thus  rendered  easier  —  in  whom  perhaps  its  devel- 
opment, at  a  comparatively  early  age,  may  be  looked  for 
with  great  confidence ;  and  it  is  evident  that  but  a  few 
repetitions  of  this  process,  in  successive  generations,  are 
needed  to  produce  a  family  or  a  tribe,  or  even  a  whole 
race,  in  whom  the  habit  shall  be  innate,  and  shall  appear 
among  the  earhest  manifestations  of  liking  or  disliking. 
That  this  is  not  a  mere  theory  —  that,  so  far  from  such 
being  the  case,  it  is  an  estabhshed  fact  —  is  proven 
by  the  testimony  of  travellers  in  East  India,  and  among 
those  races  of  Central  and  South  America,  with  whose 
ancestors  the  use  of  tobacco  probably  first  originated  ;  and 
where  we  are  told  that  children,  yet  unable  to  walk,  are  to 
be  seen  carried  at  the  mother's  back,  papoose-fashion,  or 
astride  of  her  hip,  puffing  at  a  cigarette,  identical  in  kind 
with  that  which  the  mother  herself  is  enjoying,  and  seem- 
ingly finding  it  more  of  a  necessity  than  many  things 
which  our  own  children  reckon  among  the  essentials  of 
existence  !  Do  we  desire  to  see  any  such  state  of  things 
in  our  own  country?  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  such 
instances  are  to  be  met  with  only  among  barbarians ;  we 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  93 

have  only  to  keep  our  eyes  open,  as  we  walk  the  streets  of 
any  of  our  cities,  to  see  that  the  tendency  is  toward  that 
consummation  ;  if  further  evidence  than  that  thus  obtain- 
able is  w^anted,  we  have  only  to  consult  the  records  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  to  learn  that  "the  most  prominent 
cause  of  rejection  of  candidates  for  apprenticeship  is 
irritable  heart,  caused  in  most  cases  primarily  by  tobacco." 
Do  such  things  look  as  though  there  were  absolutely  no 
danger?  Do  they  not  rather  point  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  tobacco-habit  is  making  seriously  rapid  headway 
amiong  us  by  means  of  heredity  as  at  least  one  of,  it 
may  be,  many  causes. 

\Yq  are  well  aware  that  other  views  are  taken  than  those 
that  we  have  thus  far  expressed.  We  know  that  medical 
journals  have  lately  claimed  that  the  use  of  tobacco  is 
upon  the  whole  rather  beneficial  than  otherwise  ;  that  it  is 
pleaded,  in  extenuation  of  the  many  heavy  indictments 
drawn  against  it,  that  it  produces  no  organic  lesions  which 
the  scalpel  of  the  post  fnortem  examiner  can  detect ;  that 
the  damage  produced  is  rather  functional  than  structural ; 
that  it  works  badly  with  only  a  minority  of  the  many  who 
use  it ;  and  that,  if  it  be  once  given  up,  all  bad  effects  dis- 
appear, —  if  not  immediately,  certainly  very  soon  after  its 
discontinuance.  We  know,  moreover,  all  that  is  claimed 
for  it  on  the  score  of  its  wide-spread  use,  and  on  the 
ground  of  the  testimony  in  its  favor  by  the  many  who 
employ  it ;  but  we  note  that  all  physiologists  —  with,  so 
far  as  we  know  not  a  single  exception  —  condemn  its  use 
by  those  who  have  not  yet  attained  their  growth. 

The  late  Professor  Parke  —  himself,  if  we  mistake  not,  a 
smoker  —  says  :  "  I  think  we  must  decidedly  admit  injury 
from   excess ;   from   moderate   use  I  can  see   no  harm, 


94  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

except  it  may  be  in  youth."  And  this  is  the  most  favor- 
able utterance  we  have  found;  for  even  in  the  periodical 
from  which  we  take  the  above  extract,  we  find,  in  close 
connection  with  Dr.  Parke's  utterance,  the  following  :  "  If 
we  are  willing  to  accept  the  opinions  which  sanitarians  in 
other  nations  have  formed,  we  have  a  very  decided  one 
ready  to  our  hand  in  Switzerland.  That  intelligent  repub- 
lic enacted  a  law  last  year  (1880)  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
tobacco  to  minors  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  making 
it  an  offence  against  the  law  for  such  to  smoke.  Hence  a 
boy  of  twelve  or  fourteen,  who  parades  the  streets  of 
Geneva  or  Berne  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  is  liable  to  be 
arrested  and  committed  to  the  police-station ;  and,  as  they 
have  a  disagreeable  habit  in  that  republic  of  enforcing  the 
laws  they  enact,  such  would  pretty  certainly  be  the  juve- 
nile smoker's  fate.  We  recommend  to  our  fellow-country- 
men their  manner  of  dealing  with  the  habit,  which, 
whether  harmless  or  not  to  most  adults,  is  unquestionably 
of  great  injury  to  young  boysJ"  And  another  periodical, 
of  equal  prominence  in  medical  science,  says  :  ""  It  is  the 
duty  of  our  public-school  instructors  to  make  the  facts  in 
regard  to  tobacco  known  and  impressively  felt  by  their 
scholars,  and  we  hope  that  this  field  of  sanitary  mission- 
work  will  be  actively  occupied.  Sewer-gas  is  bad  enough, 
but  a  boy  had  better  learn  his  Latin  over  a  trap  than  get 
the  habit  of  smoking  cigarettes ;  for  we  may  lay  it  down 
as  certain  that  tobacco  is  a  bane  to  youth,  though  it  may 
be  the  proper  indulgence  of  manhood  and  a  solace  to  old 
age."  To  both  of  which  we  think  it  may  be  added,  that 
if  the  habit  be  not  acquired  in  youth,  there  is  no  very 
great  probability  that  it  will  be  taken  up  by  many  in  later 
life.     If  no  tobacco  is  used  except  such  as  may  prove  "  a 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  95 

proper  indulgence  to  manhood  and  a  solace  to  old  age," 
the  present  enormous  consumption  will  very  soon  be 
diminished  greatly,  and  will  in  all  probability  never  again 
be  reached. 

As  illustrating  the  effect  of  tobacco,  everi  upon  an 
individual  habituated  to  its  use,  the  following  experiment, 
which  may  easily  be  repeated  by  any  physician  at  almost 
any  time,  has  interest.  A  young  man  aged  twenty-four,  of 
full  habit  and  accustomed  to  smoking,  was  selected  and 
kept  perfectly  quiet  in  a  sitting  position  until  his  pulse 
was  entirely  regular  at  75.5  per  minute,  a  rate  which  it 
maintained  steadily,  thus  indicating  the  freedom  of  the 
subject  from  all  excitement.  When  this  condition  was 
reached  he  was  given  a  pipe  to  smoke,  all  else  remaining 
as  before ;  during  the  first  five  minutes  of  smoking,  the 
only  perceptible  effect  was  an  increased  fulness  and 
firmness  of  the  pulse,  the  rate  remaining  as  above ;  in 
the  course  of  the  succeeding  sixteen  minutes  the  rate 
increased,  being  when  noted,  87,  89,  95,  98,  103,  104, 
105,  105,  107,  108,  III  ;  an  increase  of  temperature  was 
also  noted,  ending  in  perceptible  perspiration.  Smoking 
was  now  stopped,  the  individual  still  remaining  quiescent ; ' 
the  pulse  continued  to  increase  in  frequency  slightly  for 
one  minute  longer,  rising  to  112,  when  it  began  to 
dechne ;  at  the  end  of  thirty  minutes  it  was  89,  and  had 
not  reached  its  normal  rate  of  75.5  at  the  end  of  two 
hours.  It  is  hoped  that  others  will  repeat  this  simple 
experiment  and  record  the  results  obtained ;  it  may  be 
varied,  moreover,  in  ways  that  will  readily  suggest  them- 
selves to  any  intelligent  observer ;  and,  being  thus  repeated 
and  varied,  an  amount  of  information  now  wholly  lacking 
can  hardly  fail  to  be  obtamed  and  rendered  available  for 
future  use. 


g6  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

An  important  point  in  connection  with  the  tobacco- 
habit  yet  remains  to  be  discussed,  important  as  having  a 
bearing  upon  immense  pecuniary  interests,  i.  e.,  its  effect 
upon  Hfe-assurance.  Every  one  who  has  ever  made 
application  for  a  pohcy  of  this  kind  must  have  observed 
that  considerable  stress  is  laid  upon  the  physical  condition 
and  general  health  of  parents  and  other  relations.  The 
reason  for  this  is  obvious :  the  applicant  may  not  at  the 
time  of  insurance  have  exhibited  any  failure  of  power ;  but 
the  examiner  by  his  survey  of  the  family- history,  espe- 
cially that  of  the  immediate  progenitors,  obtains  the  means 
of  judging  with  tolerable  accuracy  his  power  of  resisting 
strains,  of  combating  with  success  any  morbid  influences 
to  which  he  may  be  subjected.  By  means  of  auscultation, 
and  other  methods  of  examination,  many  points  of  the 
physical  health  can  be  determined  with  absolute  certainty, 
but  there  are  as  yet  no  special  tests  by  which  the  condition 
of  the  brain  and  nervous  system  can  be  ascertained; 
hence  the  inquiries  into  parental  conditions  have  an  im- 
portance in  this  direction  also.  If  now  there  be  any 
truth  in  the  ideas  put  forth  in  a  previous  portion  of  this 
paper,  in  regard  to  the  possible  inheritance  of  the  tobacco- 
habit,  the  importance  of  the  whole  matter  in  relation  to 
assurance  will  be  readily  apparent.  Space  does  not  admit 
of  any  further  discussion  on  this  subject ;  it  must  sufhce 
us  if  we  have  called  the  attention  of  insurers  and  insured 
to  a  point  which  we  beheve  may  yet  assume  vast  im- 
portance in  the  consideration  of  their  relations  to  each 
other. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  to  call  attention  to  the  informa- 
tion contained  in  the  pages  which  follow  these  —  informa- 
tion worthy  of  the  closest  attention,  whatever  may  be  the 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  97 

opinion  formed  of  my  o^vn  work  and  views.  The  series 
of  questions  given  was  sent  to  nearly  all  the  prominent 
medical  men  of  Wisconsin,  a  very  large  majority  of  whom 
responded  at  considerable  length ;  some  who  did  not, 
being  prevented,  not  by  any  lack  of  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject, or  by  any  failure  to  recognize  its  great  importance, 
but  by  the  want  of  time  to  answer  as  fully  as  seemed 
desirable.  To  all  I  offer  sincere  and  hearty  thanks,  as 
now  I  bring  my  own  personal  work  to  a  close. 

Mr.  Sally,  of  St.  Thomas  Hospital,  uses  the  following 
language  :  "  It  is  my  business  to  point  out  all  the  various 
and  insidious  causes  of  general  paralysis,  and  smoking  is 
one  of  them  ;  I  know  of  no  single  vice  which  does  so 
much  harm  as  smoking ;  it  is  a  snare  and  a  delusion.  I 
believe  that  cases  of  general  paralysis  are  more  frequent 
in  England  than  they  used  to  be,  and  I  suspect  that 
smoking  tobacco  is  one  of  the  causes  of  that  increase ;  of 
this  being  the  case  in  America,  there  is  no  doubt." 

Dr.  Williams  Henderson,  in  his  "  Plain  Law  for  Im- 
proved Health,"  speaking  of  insanity  from  the  use  of 
tobacco,  refers  to  a  gentleman  who,  from  having  been  one 
of  the  most  fearless  and  healthy  of  men,  became  one  of 
the  most  timid.  He  became  unable  even  to  present  a 
petition ;  much  less  could  he  say  a  word  concerning  it, 
although  he  was  a  practised  lawyer.  He  was  afraid  to  be 
left  alone  at  night.  Though  perfectly  temperate  in  other 
respects  he  had  used  tobacco  to  excess. 

In  the  "  Lancet "  (January,  1857)  Mr.  Fenn  thus  describes 
the  result  of  his  investigations :  "  On  account  of  its 
softening  and  relaxing  effect  upon  the  mucous  membrane 
of  the  bowels,  tobacco  is  greatly  resorted  to  in  habitual 
constipation,  but  the  susceptibility  of  the  nervous  system 

7 


98  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

is  greatly  depressed,  and  the  vital  force  diminished  by  its 
use." 

In  the  preparation  of  this  paper  and  its  appendix,  I 
have  made  use  of  material  from  the  writings  of  Pereira, 
Prout,  Bright,  Radcliff,  Orfield,  Trousseau,  Johnson, 
Brodie,  Sizars,  Jackson,  Wells,  Smith,  Taylor,  Budget, 
Rumbold,  Richardson,  Landon,  Parker,  —  and  it  may  be 
of  others  whose  names  are  not  given,  though  such 
omission  is  wholly  unintentional. 

I  have  also  to  make  acknowledgment  of  my  indebted- 
ness to  the  following  gentlemen  for  personal  communica- 
tions and  other  effective  assistance  in  various  ways  :  Drs. 
W.  Kempster,  B.  M.  Gill,  A.  W.  Bickford,  H.  H.  Parrott, 
H.  B.  Cole,  G.  R.  Taylor,  L.  G.  Armstrong,  E.  L.  Bev- 
erly, B.  C.  Brett,  O.  N.  Murdock,  E.  ElHs,  I.  W.  DeVoe, 
J.  D.  W.  Heath,  C.  A.  Rood,  L.  J.  Smith,  H.  P.  Wenzel, 
G.  W.  Jenkins,  G.  Seller,  L.  Wade,  R.  Broughton,  D.  B. 
Wylie,  G.  W.  Jones,  J.  T.  Reeve,  Clark,  Day,  Fenn, 
Goodwin,  Jones,  Vincent,.  Whitman,  Prof.  T.  W.  Chitten- 
den, and  many  others. 


CORRESPONDENCE  ON  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  freshest  and  most  direct  testi- 
mony with  reference  to  the  effects  of  tobacco,  the 
questions  which  follow  were  addressed  to  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  correspondents,  the  most  of  whom 
are  prominent  physicians  of  our  own  State.  My  space 
admits  of  the  presentation  of  a  condensation  only  of  the 
information  received  in  answer,  and  this  condensation  is 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  99 

compressed  into  the  smallest  possible  limits.  Were  it 
possible,  however,  to  print  at  full  length  all  the  communi- 
cations received,  I  doubt  that  any  additional  strength 
would  be  given  to  the  case  I  have  presented ;  although 
the  matter  is  full  of  interest  and  would  be  read  with  profit 
by  very  many,  the  general  drift  of  the  testimony  given  is 
all  in  one  direction. 

Taking  each  question  in  its  order,  I  have  classified 
the  answers  received,  giving  at  full  length  only  such  as 
have  special  interest,  whether  they  are  in  accordance  with 
the  majority  or  not.  From  the  nature  of  the  case  a 
simple  yes  or  no  in  answer  to  many  of  the  inquiries  was 
not  practicable  or  desirable.  One  reply  often  contained 
several  distinct  points,  each  having  an  importance  of  its 
own. 

Question  i.  "What  good  effects  from  the  continued 
use  of  tobacco  have  come  under  your  observation?  " 

Answered  substantially  as  follows  :  Eighty-five  per  cent 
reply  that  no  good  results  have  been  obser\'ed  from  such 
use.  One  correspondent  has  observed  a  few  cases  of 
pyrosis  which  had  been  relieved  by  the  use  of  tobacco, 
and  has  also  seen  the  rehef  of  constipation.  One  con- 
siders that  it  has  given  relief  in  certain  dyspeptic  troubles, 
producing,  however,  other  disabilities  equally  bad.  One 
says  that  tobacco  has  appeared  to  produce  free  expectora- 
tion in  some  instances.  One  knew  of  no  good  effects 
from  the  use  of  tobacco,  except  what  he  had  heard 
others  speak  of.  One  claims  to  have  been  cured  of 
chronic  laryngitis  by  the  use  of  tobacco.  One  has  heard 
of  a  gentlemen  who  thought  that  smoking  had  relieved 
asthma. 

^uestioft  2.     "^Vhat,  if  any,  adulterations  of  tobacco 


lOO  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

have  come  under  your  observation,  and  what  have  been 
the  effects  of  such  adulterations  ?  " 

Answered  substantially  as  follows  :  Ninety-four  per  cent 
answer  that  they  have  not  met  with  any  adulteration. 
One  has  met  with  tobacco  adulterated  with  copperas,  to 
which  attention  was  called  by  the  effect  produced  on  the 
mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth,  and  ulcers  which  it 
caused  upon  the  tongue. 

^uestioJi  3.  "In  your  opinion,  is  the  use  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquors  in  any  way  fostered  or  affected  by  the  habitual 
use  of  tobacco?     If  so,  please  state  how  and  why." 

Seventy-six  per  cent  answer  this  question  by  an  unqual- 
ified affirmative.  Six  per  cent  say  no.  Five  per  cent  do 
not  know,  and  the  remainder  give  no  answer. 

One  correspondent  makes  answer  that  it  depends  upon 
the  individual.  Another  says  :  "  I  have  seen  many  cases 
where  the  use  of  tobacco  in  youth  has  led  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors  also."  A  third  says  :  "  In  my  opinion 
the  use  of  tobacco  fosters  that  of  intoxicating  drinks  by 
reducing  the  powers  of  the  nervous  system ;  liquor  is  then 
used  as  a  restorative,  and  is  about  as  active  a  one  as  I 
have  found."  A  fourth  replies  :  "  I  have  considered  the 
use  of  liquor  as  a  necessary  result  of  the  use  of  tobacco, 
and  have  found  no  boys  who  use  the  first  who  did  not 
begin  with  the  second." 

"  Experience  demonstrates  that  those  nations  which  are 
most  addicted  to  the  use  of  tobacco  are  also  the  most 
prone  to  drunkenness.  This  follows  first,  physiologically, 
by  the  fact  that  tobacco  produces  an  atonic  condition 
from  which  nature  seeks  relief;  and  second,  psychologi- 
cally, because  tobacco  vitiates  the  mind  and  begets 
drunkenness,  as  one  vice  begets  another." 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  lOI 

"  My  observation  strengthens  my  belief  that  the  con- 
stant use  of  tobacco  creates  and  fosters  a  perverted  taste 
for  intoxicating  liquors ;  the  social  ties  of  a  chronic 
tobacco-consumer  exert  a  peculiar  influence  over  him,  so 
as  more  easily  to  dispose  him  to  the  use  of  intoxicants." 

''The  narcotic  properties  of  tobacco  undermine  the 
nervous  system,  and  create  what  are  called  tobacco 
diseases ;  and  the  almost  universal  testimony  is  that  all 
topers,  both  young  and  old,  first  used  tobacco  freely." 

"  The  effect  of  tobacco  in  many  cases  is  to  produce  a 
depression  of  the  heart's  action,  to  overcome  which  a 
strong  desire  for  stimulants  is  established.  This  can 
hardly  be  otherwise  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case ; 
since  the  nicotine  of  tobacco  has  a  direct  tendency  to  the 
heart,  affecting  its  action  at  once,  and  more  or  less  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  to  which  tobacco  is  used." 

"  I  will  not  make  the  charge,  sometimes  made,  that 
tobacco  is  a  common  stepping-stone  to  drinking,  but  all 
our  inebriate  asylums  consider  it  useless  to  try  to  reform  a 
patient  so  long  as  he  is  allowed  to  continue  the  use  of 
tobacco." 

Question  4.  "  In  the  treatment  of  any  particular  class 
of  disease,  or  of  wounds  and  injuries,  have  you  met  with 
any  serious  difficulty  due  to  the  habitual  use  of  tobacco 
by  the  patient?     If  so,  give  details." 

The  answers  to  this  question  may  be  classified  as  follows  : 
Seventy  per  cent  answer  yes.  Twenty-five  per  cent  say 
no,  and  the  remainder  make  no  reply. 

*'  Inasmuch  as  the  excessive  use  of  tobacco  interferes 
with  nutrition  and  absorption,  should  we  not  expect  a 
depressing  effect  upon  the  growth  and  repair  of  tissues  ? 
And  since  tobacco  is  universally  acknowledged  as  a  debil- 


102  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

itating  agent,  we  should  not  be  likely  to  look  for  a  rapid 
building  up  of  injured  tissues  under  its  use.  I  have 
never  had  good  results,  and  never  expect  to  have  them, 
in  cases  where  tobacco  has  been  applied  directly  to 
wounds,  as  is  the  foolish  practice  with  many  working- 
men  ;  in  not  a  few  cases  in  which  extensive  injuries  have 
been  done  up  with  tobacco,  and  kept  in  that  condition  for 
a  length  of  time,  the  process  of  repair  has  been  much 
retarded." 

"  In  one  instance  I  had  a  case  in  which  a  person  had 
bitten  his  tongue  while  smoking  a  cigar;  the  wound 
seemed  to  be  poisoned,  and  extensive  inflammation  and 
ulceration  followed,  with  serious  results." 

"  I  have  seen  instances  where  death  has  followed  severe 
injuries,  the  patients  having  been  habitual  users  of  tobacco* 
in  which  I  could  attribute  the  fatal  result  to  no  other 
cause  than  the  depression  of  the  vital  powers  resulting 
from  long  use  of  the  weed." 

"  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  comprehend  the  amount  of 
harm  the  use  of  tobacco  produces  in  some  cases  of 
venereal  disease.  I  think  it  may  safely  be  said  that 
severe  syphilitic  or  gonorrhoeal  cases  more  frequently 
pass  uncured  than  cured,  if  the  patient  continues  the 
excessive  use  of  tobacco." 

Question  5.  "  Have  you  observed  any  local  effects  of 
tobacco  upon  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  nose,  the 
throat,  or  the  ear,  which  leads  you  to  suspect  that  it  acts 
as  a  predisposing  cause  of  catarrh  or  other  disease  ?  If 
so,  give  details." 

Sixty-eight  per  cent  of  the  replies  to  this  question  are 
in  the  affirmative,  thirty  per  cent  in  the  negative.  One 
''  has  cured  several  cases  of  catarrh  by  withdrawing  the 


TOBACCO  AND   ITS  EFFECTS.  IO3 

use  of  tobacco."  Another  regards  "  the  constant  use  of 
tobacco  as  the  source  of  a  chronic  inflammation  of  the 
throat  and  fauces,  that  can  never  be  misunderstood  by  an 
experienced  eye." 

"  I  have  seen  ulceration  of  the  hps  in  those  addicted  to 
constant  use  of  tobacco,  which  was  traceable  directly 
thereto ;  in  not  a  few  cases  catarrh  was  present,  mani- 
fested by  a  nasal  sound  in  talking,  due  to  the  thickening  of 
the  lining  membrane  of  the  nose  and  its  appendages." 

"  I  have  met-  with  many  cases  of  congestion  of  the 
pharyngeal  mucous  membrane,  sometimes  extending  to 
the  ear  and  sometimes  to  the  larynx,  producing  hoarseness. 
It  would  seem  that  the  pungent  oil  of  the  tobacco,  volatil- 
ized by  the  heat,  constitutes  the  exciting  cause  —  at  least 
I  have  always  found  such  diseased  condition  difficult  to 
reach  except  by  requiring  the  unconditional  surrender  of 
its  use ;  usually  thereafter  treatment  has  been  easy  and 
successful." 

"  I  have  observed  that  in  some  cases  smoking  has  pro- 
duced eczema  of  the  nasal  mucous  membrane,  and  chronic 
conjunctivitis.  I  have  also  seen  irritable  cough,  and,  in  a 
few  instances,  violent  heart-disturbance  and  gastric  irrita- 
tion, all  of  which  have  disappeared  upon  stopping  the  use 
of  tobacco." 

Question  6.  "  Have  any  cases  of  the  following  diseases 
come  under  your  observation,  which  you  beUeve  to  have 
been  caused  by  the  use  of  tobacco  :  {a)  Ulceration  of  the 
lips  ;  ij?)  epithelical  cancer  of  the  lips  or  mouth ;  {c)  any 
local  disease  of  the  tongue,  gums,  tonsils,  pharynx,  &c.  ? 
If  so,  give  particulars." 

The  replies  to  this  question  may  be  arranged  as  follows  : 
{a)  eighty-one  per  cent  answer  yes;   {b)  fifty-nine  per 


I04  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

cent  answer  yes,  twenty-five  per  cent  say  no,  sixteen  per 
cent  give  no  answer ;  (^)  ninety-five  per  cent  say  yes. 

"  I  liave  seen  two  cases  of  epithelical  cancer  of  the 
lips,  one  case  of  ulceration  of  the  lips,  one  of  ulceration  of 
the  tongue,  and  two  cases  of  glossitis  from  the  use  of  to- 
bacco. I  know  that  it  was  the  direct  cause,  for  when  its 
use  was  discontinued,  all  the  cases  improved  rapidly." 

"  In  one  case,  that  of  a  lady  who  smoked  a  short  pipe 
for  a  long  time,  the  tongue  became  swollen  to  an  alarming 
extent ;  it  was  found  that  the  pipe  was  the  cause.  I  have 
also  seen  cancer  of  the  lower  lip  in  one  long  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  a  pipe,  the  tumor  requiring  excision." 

"  Mr. smoked  freely  from  the  age  of  twelve.    At 

the  age  of  sixty-five  he  was  obliged  to  have  a  cancer  re- 
moved from  the  lower  lip,  due,  in  my  judgment,  to  the 
use  of  tobacco." 

"  I  have  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  notice  these  diseases 
as  they  have  from  time  to  time  appeared  in  one  form  or 
another.  I  have  treated  several  epithelical  cancers  which 
I  have  no  doubt  were  the  direct  results  of  the  long  con- 
tinued use  of  tobacco,  combined  with  the  irritating  effects 
of  the  pipe  or  cigar." 

"  I  have  had  two  cases  of  epithelical  cancer,  supposed 
to  have  been  the  result  of  smoking,  but  I  cannot  give 
details." 

"  I  have  had  two  cases  of  cancer  of  the  lip,  one  caused 
by  using  a  pipe  which  had  been  used  for  many  years,  and 
was  saturated  with  the  empyreumatic  oil." 

"  I  have  seen  one  case  of  epithelioma  of  lijD,  from  the 
use  of  an  old  pipe  ;  also  a  case  of  cancer  of  posterior  por- 
tion of  tongue  in  an  incessant  chewer ;  it  proved  fatal." 

"  I  have  seen  several  cases  of  ulceration  of  the  lips,  and 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  I05 

two  of  cancer  of  the  lip,  undoubtedly  caused  by  use  of 
the  pipe." 

"  I  have  operated  upon  three  cases  of  cancer  of  the 
lips,  directly  traceable  to  the  use  of  a  pipe." 

"  A  young  man  aged  thirty  had  smoked  almost  inces- 
santly for  ten  years ;  at  the  expiration  of  the  first  year  of 
this  practice  an  ulcer  developed  upon  the  tongue  near  the 
center,  which  greatly  annoyed  him,  but  not  suspecting 
that  tobacco  had  anything  to  do  with  it,  he  continued  to 
smoke  to  excess.  At  last  he  was  compelled  to  stop  be- 
cause he  could  not  put  a  pipe-  in  his  mouth  w^ithout  ex- 
quisite pain,  and  then  he  began  to  improve.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  tobacco  was  the  original  cause  of  the  whole 
difficulty;  .since  abandoning  it  he  has  grown  better 
steadily." 

Question  7.  "Do  your  observation  and  experience  en- 
able you  to  enumerate  any  constitutional  derangements 
resulting  from  the  use  of  tobacco  —  e.  g.  dyspepsia,  disease 
of  the  stomach,  heart,  &:c.  ?  " 

Ninety  per  cent  of  those  questioned  say  yes ;  t^vo  per 
cent  say  no ;  and  the  rest  make  no  reply. 

"  I  frequently  meet  with  and  treat  cases  of  dyspepsia, 
nervous  irritation,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  ner\^ous  de- 
pression, and  the  like,  which  are  traceable  directly  to  the 
excessive  use  of  tobacco.  In  all  such  cases,  if  the  trouble 
be  not  too  far  advanced,  recovery  is  quite  probable  on  the 
entire  discontinuance  of  the  habit." 

"  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  many  cases  of  dyspepsia 
are  produced  by  the  use  of  tobacco.  I  hav^e  prescribed 
for  such  cases  frequently,  and  find  improvement  only  when 
the  tobacco  is  discontinued." 

"  I  have  treated  a  multitude  of  cases  of  disease  of  the 


I06  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

heart  and  stomach,  where  I  had  the  best  of  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  tobacco  was  the  main  cause  of  the  trouble,  all 
bad  effects  disajDpearing  when  its  use  was  discontinued. 
Dyspepsia  in  young  men  is  caused,  in  many  instances,  and 
greatly  aggravated  in  many  more,  simply  by  smoking  to 
excess." 

"  I  feel  certain  that  abuse  of  tobacco,  however  employed, 
may  be  classed  among  the  causes  of  chronic  disease  —  e.  g. 
severe  forms  of  irritable  dyspepsia,  disturbed  action  of 
the  heart,  and  the  like.  Young  gentlemen  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  putting  this  enemy  into  their  mouths  do  not  be- 
come aware  of  the  danger  sometimes  until  too  late." 

^uestioti  8.  "  What  is  your  opinion,  founded  on  your 
own  experience,  as  to  the  effects  of  tobacco  in  producing 
diseases  of  the  brain  and  nervous  system  —  e.  g.  conges- 
tion, apoplexy,  epilepsy,  paralysis,  nervousness,  impo- 
tence, &c.  ?  " 

Of  the  replies  to  this  question,  ninety  per  cent  say  that 
the  writers  believe  tobacco  to  be  the  cause  of  such  dis- 
eases in  many  instances.     Six  per  cent  give  no  answer. 

One  thinks  that  he  has  met  a  few  cases  where  such 
diseases  could  be  traced  to  the  effects  of  tobacco. 

"  During  thirty-six  years  of  medical  practice  I  have  had 
unusual  opportunity  of  seeing  various  forms  of  brain  di- 
sease ;  have  treated  epilepsy,  paralysis,  congestion,  apo- 
plexy, nervousness  and  impotence,  which  I  knew  were 
traceable  to  the  use  of  tobacco,  from  the  fact  that  when 
the  habit  was  given  up  the  patients  recovered.  I  have 
frequently  met  with  persons  suffering  under  one  or  another 
of  these  forms  of  disease,  whom  I  knew  to  be  smokers  and 
chewers,  and  in  whom  I  beHeved  the  result  to  be  due  to 
the  tobacco-habit." 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  10/ 

''  I  have  treated  two  epileptic  cases,  and  numerous 
cases  of  nervousness  directly  due  to  tobacco." 

"  Under  certain  circumstances  tobacco  will  help  to  pro- 
duce all  the  troubles  enumerated,  and  will  help  to  make 
them  worse  when  they  arise  from  other  causes." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  use  of  tobacco  is  worthy  of 
the  special  attention  of  practitioners  of  medicine,  as  a  very 
frequent  but  unconsidered  cause  of  disease.  I  am  very 
certain  that  if  the  doctor  directs  his  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject, he  will  find  in  the  tobacco-habit  an  explanation  of 
many  obstinate  and  difficult  cases.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
the  excessive  use  of  tobacco  aggravates  phthisis ;  I  have 
seen  cases  of  amaurosis  that  were  unquestionably  due  to 
its  use." 

"  Amaurosis  is  a  very  common  result  of  smoking  to  ex- 
cess, but  I  have  never  seen  it  produced  by  snuffing  or 
chewing.  So  far  as  I  have  been  successful  in  treating  it  at 
all,  it  has  been  by  securing  unconditional  surrender  of  the 
use  of  tobacco." 

''  Loss  of  memory  takes  place  in  an  extraordinary  degree 
in  smokers." 

Question  9.  "What  is  your  opinion  as  to  the  possi- 
bihty  of  a  diseased  condition  of  any  kind  being  caused  by 
tobacco  and  being  transmitted  by  inheritance  ?  " 

The  answers  to  this  question  were  very  diverse.  Fif- 
teen per  cent  of  our  correspondents,  however,  think  that 
a  weakened  and  ner\^ous  state  of  the  system  caused  by  the 
excessive  use  of  tobacco  is  frequently  transmitted  and 
manifested  in  the  offspring.  Twenty-five  per  cent  reply 
that  diseased  conditions  from  the  use  of  tobacco  may  be 
and  doubtless  often  are  transmitted  from  parents  to  chil- 
dren.    Ten  per  cent  admit  the  possibility  of  such  trans- 


I08  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

mission,  but  deny  that  it  is  probable.  Twenty  per  cent 
think  that  nothing  of  the  sort  is  possible,  while  the  re- 
mainder either  answer  very  indefinitely  or  not  at  all. 

"  I  am  acquainted  with  two  brothers,  both  of  whom 
have  been  inordinate  lovers  of  tobacco  from  childhood, 
doubtless  owing  to  transmission  of  the  habit  from  both 
grandparents." 

"  As  the  child  is,  as  a  rule,  the  reflex  of  the  parents, 
both  mentally  and  physically,  he  will  partake  more  or  less 
of  the  defects  of  their  constitutions ;  in  other  words,  his 
constitution  will  contain  the  seeds,  which  in  time  will 
surely  develop,  of  faults  mental  and  physical." 

''  I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that  tobacco,  as  well  as  alco- 
hohc  stimulants,  creates  diseased  conditions,  which  will 
manifest  themselves  in  the  second  generation." 

"  I  have  noticed  what  I  thought  a  transmitted  tendency 
in  the  children  of  a  few  families,  some  of  whom  were 
lovers  of  tobacco  from  a  very  early  age.  These  children, 
in  one  instance,  were  born  after  the  father  became  an 
habitual  user  of  tobacco,  while  their  brothers  and  sisters, 
born  before  that  time,  had  a  perfect  loathing  for  it.  Such 
a  fact  seems  to  me  very  significant." 

^lestion  lo.  "  Have  you  observed  whether  or  not 
the  rapidly  extending  use  of  tobacco  during  recent  years 
has  been  efficient  in  producing  disease  of  any  specific 
kind,  especially  in  the  nervous,  respiratory,  or  digestive 
systems?" 

Forty-five  per  cent  of  the  replies  to  this  question  were 
in  the  affirmative,  twenty-five  per  cent  in  the  negative,  and 
the  remainder,  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  eorresiDondents  made 
no  response. 

"  Tobacco  is  undoubtedly  one  chief  cause  of  the  rapid 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  IO9 

increase  of  dyspepsia,  nervous  debility,  and  all  the  long 
train  of  symptoms  of  nervous  trouble  so  common  among 
our  business  and  professional  men,  and  those  who  lead 
sedentary  lives." 

"  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  an  articl-e  in  use  in  this 
country  whose  legitimate  effect  upon  the  nervous  system 
tends  to  induce  deterioration  more  decidedly  than  does 
the  effect  of  tobacco." 

"  As  our  studies  of  the  causes  of  disease  acquire  the 
definiteness  of  science,  and  convictions  of  the  laws  and 
requirements  of  bodily  health  are  forcing  themselves  upon 
us,  the  evils  to  the  physical  life  of  society,  that  result  from 
whiskey  and  tobacco,  become  more  and  more  apparent. 
I  have  little  hesitation  in  attributing  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  some  of  the  most  painful  maladies  that  come 
under  my  notice  to  the  ordinary' and  daily  use  of  tobacco 
in  the  quantity  usually  deemed  moderate." 

"  While  there  are  differences  in  the  medical  estimate  of 
tobacco,  and  differences,  to  some  extent,  in  opinions  as  to 
the  toleration  of  its  use  which  can  be  established  or 
endured  by  individuals,  there  is  yet  great  uniformity  of 
the  opinion  as  to  unadvisabihty  of  its  use  under  any 
pretext  whatever.  No  person  or  community  need  make 
the  effort  to  use  tobacco  extensively  in  any  form,  without 
the  expectation  and  assurance  that  the  result  will  be 
continued  injury  to  the  individual,  and  enfeeblement  to  the 
race.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  by  this  that  one  cigar  or  one 
pipe  of  tobacco  will  leave  the  partaker  pennanently 
impaired,  any  more  than  I  would  assert  that  the  loss  of 
one  night's  sleep  is  a  permanent  injury  to  a  person  in  fair 
average  health ;  but  it  should  be  understood  that  the 
general  Une  of  direction   is   toward   the   impairment  of 


no  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

vital  force,  and  hence  toward  prostration  and  serious 
nervous  disease." 

"  I  think  the  majority  of  my  office-patients  are  those 
whose  systems  have  been  shattered  by  the  excessive  use 
of  tobacco ;  the  effects  of  this  drug  and  its  entaihiients 
are  not  sufficiently  taught  by  the  medical  profession." 

*•  Experience  and  observation  alike  show  that  the  use  of 
tobacco  is  producing  a  rapid  increase  in  the  amount  of 
nervous  and  pulmonary  diseases.  Hence  comes  also  a 
demand  for  whiskey  to  counteract  the  depression  caused 
by  tobacco,  and  from  both  we  have  broken-down  constitu- 
tions and  premature  exhaustion  in  the  offspring  of  their 
consumers." 

"  I  answer  your  questions  generally,  by  saying  that  I 
believe  that  the  use  of  tobacco  tends  to  promote  intem- 
perance, by  causing  profuse  expectoration,  and  consequent 
exhaustion,  which  calls  for  stimulating  liquors.  During 
thirty  years  in  which  I  used  tobacco  I  laid  the  foundation 
for  dyspepsia,  diseased  throat,  catarrh,  and  general  de- 
rangement of  the  nervous  system,  which  now,  after  twenty 
years'  abstinence,  still  maintain  a  hold  upon  my  bodily, 
mental,  and  moral  powers  ;  and  though  the  effect  is  far  less 
injurious  than  it  would  have  been  had  I  not  reformed,  I 
must  regard  the  formation  of  the  evil  habit  as  one  of  the 
gravest  sins  of  my  life." 

"  We  are  told  that  Nature  never  forgives  sins  committed 
against  her  by  individuals ;  that  the  record  of  offences 
against  her  is  never  effaced ;  that  the  penalty  is  always 
exacted  to  the  uttermost ;  and  I  have  never  been  more 
firmly  convinced  of  these  facts  than  when  attempting  to 
treat  the  long  train  of  nervous  and  digestive  troubles  — 
traceable,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  use  of  tobacco  in 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  HI 

one  form  or  another  —  that  are  continually  coming  before 
the  physician  for  his  attention.  I  do  not  suppose  that  a 
practising  physician  can  be  found  who  will  not  admit  that 
if  no  tobacco  in  any  form  were  used  during  ten  years 
within  the  sphere  of  his  observation  and  practice,  a  most 
noticeable  change  would  take  place  in  the  character  of 
the  diseases  presenting  themselves  for  treatment." 

Question  ii.  "What  effects  have  you  observed  result- 
ing from  the  constant  use  of  tobacco  among  professionrJ 
men  and  students  generally?" 

Of  those  answering  this  question,  twenty-five  per  cent 
said  that  they  had  noticed  none ;  fifty-five  per  cent  made 
a  great  diversity  of  replies,  some  of  which  are  given 
below,  the  tendency  of  all  being  in  the  same  direction ; 
and  from  the  rest  no  answer  was  received. 

"  I  beheve  that  the  habit  of  using  tobacco,  in  various 
forms,  is  not  only  laying  the  foundation  for  many  diseases 
of  serious  character,  and  not  easily  removed,  but  that  it  is 
damaging  the  moral  fibre  of  many  of  our  students." 

"It  is  a  rigorous  rule  of  athletic  regimen  that  the 
oarsman  must  put  away  his  cigar  and  the  pugilist  his  plug 
when  they  go  into  training.  This  is  the  smoker's  frank 
confession  that  tobacco  robs  him  of  strength,  that  he  is 
in  better  condition  without  it ;  he  cannot  smoke  when  he 
would  be  at  his  best,  when  he  would  have  every  nerve  and 
muscle  at  its  steadiest.  But  is  there  ever  a  time  when  it 
is  not  worth  while  for  a  man  to  be  at  his  best  ?  Success 
in  the  supreme  endeavor  of  life  would  seem  to  be  worth 
as  much  as  success  in  a  prize-ring  or  regatta,  and  by  the 
same  system  of  analogy  it  is  evident  that  if  the  student 
would  be  at  his  best  he  must  put  away  his  cigar." 

"  All  our  professional  men    should  know  that  the  ill 


112  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS, 

effects  of  tobacco  upon  the  system  are  less  easily  observed 
and  more  insidious  than  is  usually  supposed.  I  am  sure 
that  the  habit  is  incompatible  with  great  and  long  con- 
tinued intellectual  activity ;  and  since  we  physicians  as  a 
class  know  its  harm  physiologically,  it  appears  to  me  that 
it  is  our  duty  to  discourage  a  habit  that  is  not  conducive  to 
health,  and  that  we  are  criminal  if  we  give  countenance  to 
a  habit  which  is  known  to  engender  nervous  troubles  of  a 
very  serious  kind.  Professional  men  and  students  should 
be  made  more  fully  aware  than  they  sometimes  are  of  the 
tendency  of  the  habit  and  its  results." 

"  During  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  the  consumption 
of  tobacco  has  so  increased,  especially  among  young 
people,  that  we  can  hardly  hope  to  comprehend  its  influ- 
ence. It  is  my  belief  that  its  use  among  the  young 
cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned ;  very  few  students 
who  make  a  free  use  of  tobacco  stand  at  the  head  of 
their  classes." 

"  It  is  not  often  that  one  great  catastrophe  overthrows 
the  mental  health  of  the  student ;  it  is  the  constant 
recurrence  of  unfavorable  circumstances  or  acts,  the 
gradual  accumulation  of  adverse  surroundings,  the  steady 
disregard  of  healthful  conditions,  which  heap  misfortune 
upon  the  individual ;  the  often  repeated  disregard  of  the 
common  laws  of  hygiene,  deviations  from  estabhshed 
principles,  the  thousand  and  one  little  things  which  tend 
to  depress  vitality  and  produce  disease,  —  all  these  are  the 
operating  causes  ;  and  prominent  among  them  stands  the 
increasing  use  of  tobacco  among  the  younger  students  at 
the  present  time." 

"  Nervous  prostration,  and  a  strong  tendency  to  the  use 
of  stimulants  and  narcotics,  as  alcohol  and  opium,  are 


TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS.  II3 

among  the  evils  likely  to  overtake  the  student  of  tobacco- 
using  habits." 

"  An  unsound  mind  is  ever  the  outcome  of  an  unsound 
body,  caused  by  a  violation  of  law  committed  through 
ignorance,  which  was  not  accepted,  however,  as  a  reason 
for  exemption  from  the  penalty.  What  seems  needful 
for  the  medical  profession  to  teach  at  the  present  time 
is  how  best  to  maintain  the  mental  faculties  in  a  state  of 
health.  The  insidious  effects  of  the  tobacco-habit  should 
be  pointed  out  and  kept  in  mind  if  we  would  look  to  the 
welfare  of  the  professional  man  and  student,  and  to  the  wel- 
fare of  society  at  large.  The  youth  of  our  land  should  be 
taught  that  the  use  of  tobacco  arrests  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  body,  producing  low,  dwarfish  stature, 
paUid  and  sallow  hue  of  the  surface,  insufficient  and 
Unhealthy  supply  of  blood,  and  diminution  of  both  bodily 
and  mental  power.  Children  should  under  no  circum- 
stances be  allowed  to  use  tobacco  in  any  form." 

Here  I  close  my  extracts  from  the  abundant  testimony 
given  by  our  numerous  correspondents.  The  following 
conclusions  appear  to  be  established  as  the  judgment  of 
the  representative,  thinking  portion  of  the  medical  men  of 
Wisconsin,  a  class  including  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the 
profession  : 

I  St.  That  smoking,  even  in  what  is  usually  considered 
moderation,  is,  to  say  the  least,  injurious  indirectly,  most 
especially  to  the  young ;  inasmuch  as  it  is  notorious  that 
the  habits  of  drinking  and  smoking  are  very  intimately 
associated,  and  that  the  practice  of  the  latter  may  easily 
lead  to  the  former  —  that  the  use  of  tobacco  may  become 
an  inducement  to  the  excessive  use  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
with  all  its  accompanying  evil  results. 


114  TOBACCO  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

2d.  That  beginning  the  use  of  tobacco  in  early  Hfe 
cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned,  as  producing  most 
pernicious  effects  upon  the  constitution  of  the  young,  and 
as  impairing  greatly,  if  not  wholly  destroying,  the  chances 
of  success  as  students  and  scholars. 

3d.  That  whatever  may  be  said  in  favor  of  the  use  of 
tobacco  in  moderation,  its  employment  in  excess,  es- 
pecially if  long  persisted  in,  is  injurious  to  any  one, 
physically,  mentally,  and  morally. 


APPENDIX. 


TOBACCO  IN   THE  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

THE  "  Boston  Journal  "  of  November  i8,  1882,  stated  that 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  school  boys,  over  12  or  13 
years  of  age,  were  habitual  smokers  of  cigarettes.  This  called 
out  replies  and  provoked  investigation,  which  resulted  in  de- 
veloping the  following : 

Mr.  Billings,  of  Cambridgeport,  placed  the  age  at  from  8 
to  15.  He  had  induced  more  than  300  out  of  350  in  his  school, 
to  sign  a  simple  pledge  to  abstain  during  1882.  About  fifty 
per  cent  had  proved  faithful.  In  the  upper  classes  of  the 
Latin  School,  one-half  the  pupils  use  tobacco.  In  the  Eng- 
lish High  School  there  is  comparatively  little  smoking. 
East  Boston  placed  the  per  cent  of  tobacco  users  at  from  10 
to  30. 

Roxbury  had  been  fighting  the  evil  since  1866,  but  the  num- 
ber of  smokers  had  doubled.  All  these  schools  "prohibit  " 
the  use  of  tobacco,  but  indifference,  and  bad  example  on  the 
part  of  the  parents,  render  it  impossible  to  control  the  boys. 

In  New  York  and  Brooklyn  the  evil  has  become  so  great 
that  petitions  are  being  circulated,  asking  for  a  law  by  the 
State  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  tobacco  to  minors.  Such  a  law 
ought  to  exist  and  be  enforced  in  every  State. 


Il6  APPENDIX. 


II. 

TOBACCO   VS.   RELIGION. 

Mr.  Samuel  Smiles  estimates  that  the  sum  expended  every 
twelve  months  in  the  United  Kingdom  on  cigars  and  tobacco 
exceeds  eleven  millions  of  pomids  sterling.  This  sum  is  more 
than  ten  times  as  much  as  all  the  Missionary  and  Bible  socie- 
ties raise  in  the  same  period. 

III. 
testimonies  of  physicians,  scientists,  and  others. 

Dr.  Boerhaave,  of  Germany,  says  that  since  the  use  of 
tobacco  has  been  so  general  in  Europe,  the  number  of  hypo- 
chondriacal and  consumptive  complaints  has  increased  by  its 
use. 

Liebig,  the  celebrated  German  chemist,  says  that  **  smok- 
ing cigars  is  prejudicial  to  health,  as  much  gaseous  carbon  is 
injuriously  inhaled,  that  robs  the  system  of  its  oxygen." 

Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  says  of  tobacco,  "  It  impairs 
appetite,  produces  dyspepsia,  tremors,  vertigo,  headache,  and 
epilepsy.  It  injures  the  voice,  destroys  the  teeth,  and  imparts 
to  the  complexion  a  disagreeable  dusky  brown." 

Dr.  Darwin,  of  England,  says  of  tobacco,  that  "it  produces 
diseases  of  the  salivary  glands  and  the  pancreas,  and  injures 
the  power  of  digestion  by  occasioning  the  person  to  spit  off 
the  sahva,  which  he  ought  to  swallow." 

Dr.  Franklin  said  that  he  never  used  tobacco,  and  that  he 
never  met  with  a  man  who  did  use  it,  that  advised  him  to 
follow  his  example. 

John  Ouincy  Adams,  former  President  of  the  United  States, 
after  using  tobacco  in  early  life,  and  giving  up  the  habit,  re- 
marked: "  I  have  often  wished  that  every  individual  of  the 


APPENDIX, 


117 


human  race,  affected  with  this  artificial  passion,  would  prevail 
upon  himself  to  try,  but  for  three  months,  the  experiment 
which  I  have  made,  and  am  sure  it  would  turn  every  acre  of 
tobacco  land  into  a  wheat-field,  and  add  five  years  to  the 
average  of  human  life." 

Dr.  Woodward,  former  superintendent  of  the  State  Lunatic 
Asylum  at  Worcester,  says  :  "  Tobacco  is  a  powerful  narcotic 
agent,  and  its  use  is  very  deleterious  to  the  nervous  system, 
producing  tremors,  vertigo,  faintness,  palpitation  of  the  heart, 
and  other  serious  diseases.  That  tobacco  certainly  produces 
insanity,  I  am  not  able  positively  to  observe;  but  that  it 
produces  a  predisposition  to  it,   I  am  fully  confident." 

Dr.  Amos  Twitchell,  of  Keene,  says,  in  a  lecture  on  the 
habitual  use  of  tobacco,  that  it  produces  its  most  pernicious 
effects  by  paralyzing  the  action  of  the  nerves  of  involuntary 
motion,  — those  whose  function  it  is  to  carry  on  the  action 
of  the  lungs,  heart,  and  stomach.  The  habitual  use  of  to- 
bacco is  a  most  fruitful  source  of  disease.  Among  the 
diseases  caused  by  tobacco  the  doctor  enumerated  palsy,  — 
which  he  thought  was  produced  by  tobacco  more  frequently 
than  by  all  other  causes,  —  inveterate  nervous  headache,  pal- 
pitation of  the  heart,  disease  of  the  liver,  indigestion,  ulcera- 
tion of  the  stomach,  piles,  and  many  others. 


Cmversity  Press  :  Jolin  Wilson  &  Son,  Cambridge. 


MESSES.  EOBEETS  BEOTHEES'  PUBLIOATIONS. 

JFamous  SUomen  ^tms. 
GEORGE    ELIOT. 

By  MATHILDE   BLIND. 

One  vol.     i6mo.     Cloth.     Price,  $i.oo. 


"  Messrs.-  Roberts  Brothers  begin  a  series  of  Biographies  of  Famous 
Women  with  a  life  of  George  Elio^,  by  Mathilde  Blind.  The  idea  of  the 
series  is  an  excellent  one,  and  the  reputation  of  its  publishers  is  a  guarantee 
for  its  adequate  execution.  This  book  contains  about  three  hundred  pages  in 
open  tj-pe,  and  not  only  collects  and  condenses  the  main  facts  that  are  known 
in  regard  to  the  history  of  George  Eliot,  but  supplies  otlier  material  from 
personal  research.  It  is  agreeably  written,  and  %vith  a  good  idea  of  propor- 
tion in  a  memoir  of  its  size.  The  critical  study  of  its  subject's  works,  which 
is  made  in  the  order  of  their  appearance,  is  particularly  well  done-  In  fact, 
good  taste  and  good  judgment  pervade  the  memoir  throughout."  — Saturday 
Eve?iing  Gazette. 

"  Miss  Blind's  little  book  is  written  with  admirable  good  taste  and  judg- 
ment, and  with  notable  self-restraint.  It  does  not  weary  the  reader  with 
critical  discursiveness,  nor  with  attempts  to  search  out  high-flov%'n  meanings 
and  recondite  oracles  in  the  plain 'yea'  and  '  nay  '  of  life.  It  is  a  graceful 
and  unpretentious  little  biography,  and  tells  all  that  need  be  told  concerning 
one  of  the  greatest  writers  of  the  time.  It  is  a  deeply  interesting  if  not 
fascinating  woman  whom  Miss  Blind  presents,"  says  the  New  York 
Trib^ine. 

"  Miss  Blind's  little  biographical  study  of  George  Eliot  is  wTitten  with 
s>Tnpathy  and  good  taste,  and  is  very  welcome.  It  gives  us  a  graphic  if  not 
elaborate  sketch  of  the  personality  and  development  of  the  great  novelist,  is 
particularly  full  and  authentic  concerning  her  earlier  years,  tells  enough  of 
the  leading  motives  in  her  work  to  give  the  general  reader  a  lucid  idea  of  the 
trae  drift  and  purpose  of  her  art,  and  analyzes  carefully  her  various  writings, 
with  no  attempt  at  profound  criticism  or  fine  writing,  but  with  appreciation, 
insight,  and  a  clear  grasp  of  those  underlpng  psychological  principles  which 
are  so  closely  interwoven  in  every  production  that  came  from  her  pen."  — 
Traveller. 

"  The  hves  of  few  great  writers  have  attracted  more  curiosity  and  specula- 
tion than  that  of  George  Eliot.  Had  she  only  lived  earlier  in  the  century 
she  might  easily  have  become  the  centre  of  a  mythos.  As  it  is,  many  of  the 
anecdotes  commonly  repeated  about  her  are  made  up  largely  of  fable.  It  is, 
therefore,  well,  before  it  is  too  late,  to  reduce  the  true  story  of  her  career  to 
the  lowest  terms,  and  this  service  has  beeu  well  done  by  the  author  of  the 
present  volume."  — Philadelphia  Press. 

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EMILY    BRONTE. 

By   a.    MARY    F.    ROBINSON. 
One  vol.  16mo.  Cloth.  Price,  $1.00. 

"  Miss  Robinson  has  written  a  fascinating  biography.  .  .  .  Emily  Bronte  is 
interesting,  not  because  she  wrote  '  Wuthering  Heights,'  but  because  of  her 
brave,  baffled,  human  life,  so  lonely,  so  full  of  pain,  but  with  a  great  hope  shining 
beyond  all  the  darkness,  and  a  passionate  defiance  in  bearing  more  than  the 
burdens  that  were  laid  upon  her.  The  story  of  the  three  sisters  is  infinitely  sad, 
but  it  is  the  ennobling  sadness  that  belongs  to  large  natures  cramped  and  striving 
for  freedom  to  heroic,  almost  desperate,  work,  with  little  or  no  result.  The  author 
of  this  intensely  interesting,  sympathetic,  and  eloquent  biography,  is  a  young  lady 
and  a  poet,  to  whom  a  place  is  given  in  a  recent  anthology  of  living  English  poets, 
which  is  supposed  to  contain  only  the  best  poems  of  the  best  writers."  —  Boston 
Daily  A  dvertiser. 

"Miss  Robinson  had  many  excellent  qualifications  for  the  task  she  has  per- 
formed in  this  little  volume,  among  which  may  be  named,  an  enthusiastic  interest 
in  her  subject  and  a  real  sympathy  with  Emily  Bronte's  sad  and  heroic  life.  'To 
rej^resent  her  as  she  was,'  says  Miss  Robinson,  '  would  be  her  noblest  and  most 
fitting  monument.'  .  .  .  Emily  Bronte  here  becomes  well  known  to  us  and,  in  one 
sense,  this  should  be  praise  enough  for  any  biography."  —  Neiv  York  Times. 

"  The  biographer  who  finds  such  material  before  him  as  the  lives  and  characters 
of  the  Bronte  family  need  have  no  anxiety  as  to  the  interest  of  his  work.  Char- 
acters not  only  strong  but  so  uniquely  strong,  genius  so  supreme,  misfortunes  so 
overwhelming,  set  in  its  scenery  so  forlornly  picturesque,  could  not  fail  to  attract 
all  readers,  if  told  even  in  the  most  prosaic  language.  When  we  add  to  this,  that 
Miss  Robinson  has  told  their  story  not  in  prosaic  language,  but  with  a  literary 
style  exhibiting  all  the  qualities  essential  to  good  biography,  our  readers  will 
understand  that  this  life  of  Emily  Bronte  is  not  only  as  interesting  as  a  novel,  but 
a  great  deal  more  interesting  than  most  novels.  As  it  presents  most  vividly  a 
general  picture  of  the  family,  there  seems  hardly  a  reason  for  giving  it  Emily's  name 
alone,  except  perhaps  for  the  masterly  chapters  on  '  Wuthering  Heights,'  which 
the  reader  will  find  a  grateful  condensation  of  the  best  in  that  powerful  but  some- 
what forbidding  story.  We  know  of  no  point  in.  the  Bronte  history  —  their  genius, 
their  surroundings,  their  faults,  their  happiness,  their  misery,  their  love  and  friend- 
ships, their  peculiarities,  their  power,  their  gentleness,  their  patience,  their  pride, 
—  which  Miss  Robinson  has  not  touched  upon  with  conscientiousness  and  sym- 
pathy."—  The  Critic. 

" '  Emily  Bronte  '  is  the  second  of  the  '  Famous  Women  Series,'  which  Roberts 
Brothers,  Boston,  propose  to  publish,  and  of  which  '  George  Eliot '  was  the  initial 
volume.  Not  the  least  remarkable  of  a  very  remarkable  family,  the  personage 
whose  life  is  here  written,  possesses  a  peculiar  interest  to  all  who  are  at  all  familiar 
with  the  sad  and  singular  history  of  herself  and  her  sister  Charlotte.  That  the 
author.  Miss  A.  Mary  F.  Robinson,  has  done  her  work  with  minute  fidelity  to 
facts  as  well  as  affectionate  devotion  to  the  subject  of  her  sketch,  is  plainly  to  be 
seen  all  through  the  book."  —  IVashifigton  Post. 


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FAMOUS    WOMEN    SERIES. 


GEORGE     SAND. 

'By    bertha    THOMAS. 
One  volume.     i6mo.     Cloth.    Price,  $i.oo. 

"  Miss  Thomas  has  accomplished  a  difficult  task  with  as  much  good  sense  as 
good  feeling.  She  presents  the  main  facts  of  George  Sand's  life,  extenuating 
notliing,  and  setting  naught  down  in  malice,  but  wisely  leaving  her  readers  to 
form  their  own  conclusions.  Everybody  knows  that  it  was  not  such  a  life  as  the 
women  of  England  and  America  are  accustomed  to  live,  and  as  the  worst  of  men 
are  glad  to  have  them  live.  .  .  .  Whatever  may  be  said  against  it,  its  result  on 
George  Sand  was  not  what  it  would  have  been  upon  an  English  or  American 
woman  of  genius."  —  Neiv  York  Mail  and  Express. 

*'  This  is  a  volume  of  the  '  Famous  Women  Series,'  which  was  begun  so  well 
with  George  Eliot  and  Emily  Bronte.  The  book  is  a  review  and  critical  analysis 
of  George  Sand's  life  and  work,  by  no  means  a  detailed  biography.  Amantine 
Lucile  Aurore  Dupin,  the  maiden,  or  Mme.  Dudevant,  the  married  woman,  is 
forgotten  in  the  renown  of  the  pseudonym  George  Sand. 

*'  Altogether,  George  Sand,  with  all  her  excesses  and  defects,  is  a  representative 
woman,  one  of  the  names  of  the  nineteenth  century.  She  was  great  among  the 
greatest,  the  friend  and  compeer  of  the  finest  intellects,  and  Miss  Thomas's  essay 
will  be  a  useful  and  agreeable  introduction  to  a  more  extended  study  of  her  life 
and  works,"  —  Knickerbocker. 

"  The  biography  of  this  famous  woman,  by  Miss  Thomas,  is  the  only  one  in 
existence.  Those  who  have  awaited  it  with  pleasurable  anticipation,  but  with 
some  trepidation  as  to  the  treatment  of  the  erratic  side  of  her  character,  cannot 
fail  to  be  pleased  with  the  skill  by  which  it  is  done.  It  is  the  best  production  on 
George  Sand  that  has  yet  been  published.  The  author  modestly  refers  to  it  as  a 
sketch,  which  it  undoubtedly  is,  but  a  sketch  that  gives  a  just  and  discriminating 
analysis  of  George  Sand's  life,  tastes,  occupations,  and  of  the  motives  and  impulses 
which  prompted  her  unconventional  actions,  that  were  misunderstood  by  a  narrow 
public.  The  difficulties  encountered  by  the  writer  in  describing  this  remarkable 
character  are  shown  in  the  first  line  of  the  opening  chapter,  which  says,  'In  nam- 
ing George  Sand  we  name  something  more  exceptional  than  even  a  great  genius.' 
That  tells  the  whole  story.  Misconstruction,  condemnation,  and  isolation  are  the 
penalties  enforced  upon  the  great  leaders  in  the  realm  of  advanced  thought,  by 
the  bigoted  people  of  their  time.  The  thinkers  soar  beyond  the  common  herd, 
whose  soul-wings  are  not  strong  enough  to  fly  aloft  to  clearer  atmos]iheres,  and 
consequently  they  censure  or  ridicule  what  they  are  powerless  to  reach.  George 
Sand,  even  to  a  greater  extent  than  her  contemporar}-,  George  Eliot,  was  a  victim 
to  ignorant  social  prejudices,  but  even  the  conservative  world  was  forced  to  recog- 
nize the  matchless  genius  of  these  two  extraordinary  women,  each  widely  different 
in  her  character  and  method  of  thought  and  writing.  .  .  .  She  has  told  much  that 
is  good  which  has  been  imtold,and  just  what  will  interest  the  reader,  and  no  more, 
'"x»  the  same  easy,  entertaining  style  that  characterizes  all  of  these  unpretentious 
Jiographies."  —  Hartford  Times. 


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FAMOUS  WOMEN  SEEIES, 


MARY    LAMB 

By    ANNE    GILCHRIST. 
One  volume.  16ino.    Cloth.    Price,  $1.00. 


"  The  story  of  Mary  Lamb  has  long  been  familiar  to  the  readers  of  Elia,  but 
never  in  its  entirety  as  in  the  monograph  which  Mrs.  Anne  Gilchrist  has  just 
contributed  to  the  Famous  Women  Series.  Darkly  hinted  at  by  Talfourd  in  his 
Final  Memorials  of  Charles  Lamb,  it  became  better  known  as  the  years  went  on 
and  that  imperfect  work  was  followed  by  fuller  and  franker  biographies,  —  became 
so  well  known,  in  fact,  that  no  one  could  recall  the  memory  of  Lamb  without 
recalling  at  the  same  time  the  memory  of  his  sister."  —  New  York  Mail  and  Ex- 
press. 

"  A  biography  of  Mary  Lamb  must  inevitably  be  also,  almost  more,  a  biogra- 
phy of  Charles  Lamb,  so  completely  was  the  life  of  the  sister  encompassed  by 
that  of  her  brother ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  Mrs.  Anne  Gilchrist  has  per- 
formed a  difficult  biographical  task  with  taste  and  ability.  .  .  .  The  reader  is  at 
least  likely  to  lay  down  the  book  with  the  feeling  that  if  Mary  Lamb  is  not  famous 
she  certainly  deserves  to  be,  and  that  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  due  Mrs.  Gilchrist  for 
this  well-considered  record  of  her  life."  — Boston  Courier. 

"  Mary  Lamb,  who  was  the  embodiment  of  everything  that  is  tenderest  in 
woman,  combined  with  this  a  heroism  which  bore  her  on  for  a  while  through  the 
terrors  of  insanity.  Think  of  a  highly  intellectual  woman  struggling  year  after 
year  with  madness,  triumphant  over  it  for  a  season,  and  then  at  last  succumbing  to 
It.  The  saddest  lines  that  ever  were  written  are  tiiose  descriptive  of  this  brother  and 
sister  just  before  Mary,  on  some  return  of  insanity,  was  to  leave  Charles  Lamb. 
*  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Charles  Lloyd  met  them  slowly  pacing  together  a  little 
foot-path  in  Hoxton  F'ields,  both  weeping  bitterly,  and  found,  on  joining  them, 
that  they  were  taking  their  solemn  way  to  the  accustomed  asylum.'  What  pathos 
is  there  not  here  ? "  —  New  York  Times. 

I'  This  life  was  worth  writing,  for  all  records  of  weakness  conquered,  of  pain 
patiently  borne,  of  success  won  from  difficulty,  of  cheerfulness  in  sorrow  and 
afifiiction,  make  the  world  better.  Mrs.  Gilchrist's  biography  is  unaffected  and 
simple.  She  has  told  the  sweet  and  melancholy  story  with  judicious  sympathy, 
showing  always  the  light  shining  through  darkness." — Philadelphia  Press, 


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A  collection  of  world-renowned  works  selected  from  the 
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READY  AND  IN  PREPARATION. 
Sir  Walter   Scott's  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel," 
"Marmion,"  and  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake."    The 
three   poems  in   one  volume. 

"  There  are  no  books  for  boys  like  these  poems  by  Sir  Walter 
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Southey's  "Life  of  Nelson."    With   Illustrations  by 
Birket   Foster. 

Voltaire's  "Life  of  Charles  the  Twelfth."    With 
Maps   and   Portraits. 

Maria    Edgeworth's  "Classic    Tales."    With  a  bio- 
graphical Sketch  by  Grace   A.   Oliver. 

Lord  Macaulay's  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome."    With 
a   Biographical  Sketch   and   Illustrations. 

Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."   With  all  of  the  origi- 
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Biographical  Sketch  by  Grace  A.  Oliver. 

Classic  Tales.     By   Ann  and    Jane    Taylor.     With   a 
Biographical  Sketch  by  Grace  A.  Oliver. 

AND    OTHERS. 


Messrs,  Roberts  Brothers'"  Publications^ 

> — — . , 

BITS    OF    TALK 

ABOUT  HOME  MATTERS. 

By  H.   H. 

Author  of  "  Verses^^  and  '■^  Bits  of  Travel^    i^quart 
iSmo,    Clothy  red  edges.    Price  $i.oo. 


"A  Nzw  GosPKL  FOR  Mothers. —  We  wish  that  every  mother  in 
tlse  land  would  read  'Bits  of  Talk  about  Home  Matters,'  by  H.  H.,  and 
that  they  would  read  it  thoughtfully.  The  latter  suggestion  is,  however, 
wholly  unnfcessary:  the  book  seizes  one's  thoughts  and  sympathies,  as 
only  startling  truths  presented  with  direct  earnestness  can  do.  .  .  .  The 
adoption  of  her  sentiments  would  wholly  change  the  atmosphere  in  muny 
ft  house  to  what  it  ought  to  be,  and  bring  almost  constant  sunshine  and 
bliss  where  now  too  often  are  storm  and  misery."  —  Lawrence  {Kansat) 
Journal 

"  In  the  li:tle  book  entitled  '  Bits  of  Talk,'  by  H.  H  ,  Messrs.  Roberta 
Brothers  have  given  to  the  world  an  uncommonly  useful  collection  o( 
essays,  —  useful  certainly  to  all  parents,  and  likely  to  do  good  to  all  chil. 
dren.  Other  people  have  doubtless  held  as  correct  views  on  the  subjects 
treated  here,  though  few  have  ever  advanced  them ;  and  none  that  we  are 
iware  have  made  them  so  attractive  as  they  are  made  by  H.  H.'s  crisp 
and  sparkling  style  No  one  opening  the  book,  even  though  without  rea- 
son for  special  interest  in  its  topics,  could,  after  a  glimpse  at  its  pages, 
lay  it  down  unread ;  and  its  bright  and  witty  scintillations  will  fix  many  a 
precept  and  establish  many  a  fact.  '  Bits  of  Talk '  is  a  book  that  ought 
to  have  a  place  of  honor  in  every  household ;  for  it  teaches,  not  only  the 
true  dignity  of  parentage,  but  of  childhood.  As  we  read  it,  we  laugh  and 
cry  with  the  author,  and  acknowledge  that,  since  the  child  is  father  of  ths 
man,  in  being  the  champion  of  childhood,  she  is  the  chsn>pion  of  the 
whole  coming  race.  Great  is  the  rod,  but  H.  H.  ie  not  its  prophet  I"  — 
Mrs.  Harriet  Prescott  Spofford,  in  Neivburypori  Herald. 


Sold  everywhere.     Mailed^  postpaid^  by  the  Pub- 
fishers, 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS,  Boston. 


Messrs*  Roberts  Brothers*  PubL^attons, 

Our  New  Crusade. 

A  TEMPERANCE  STORY. 

By  E.  E.   Hale. 
Square    i8mo.       Price   $i.oo. 


Front  the  Southern  Churchman* 
**  It  has  all  the  characteristics  of  its  brilliant  author,  —  unflagging  entertam< 
tnent,  helpfulness,  suggestive,  practical  hints,  and  a  contagious  vitality  that  sets 
erne's  blood  tingling.  Whoever  has  read  'Ten  Times  One  is  Ten'  will  knew  just 
what  we  mean.  The  fact  that  thirty  thousand  copies  of  this  last-named  volume 
have  l>een  sold  gives  one  some  idea  of  its  hold  on  the  popular  mind.  We  predia 
thai  the  new  volume,  as  being  a  more  charming  story,  will  have  quite  as  great  a 
parish  of  readers.  The  gist  of  the  book  is  to  show  how  possible  it  is  for  the  best 
spirits  of  a  community,  through  wise  organization,  to  form  themselves  into  a  lever 
by  means  of  which  the  whole  tone  of  the  social  status  may  be  elevated,  and  tin 
good  and  highest  happiness  of  the  helpless  many  be  attained  through  the  sei» 
denying  exertions  of  the  powerful  few." 

From  the  Louisville  Daily  Ledger. 
*•  Mr.  Hale  thinks,  rightly,  that  this  movement  of  the  women  of  the  land  ts 
put  down  an  undeniable  evil  was  not  a  wisely  directed  one.  He  is  willing  enough 
to  have  a  Crusade,  but  let  it  be  more  in  the  line  of  women's  work,  and  let  it  ap- 
peal to  all  the  best  instincts  of  our  nature,  —  not  the  resistant  ones.  Men  are  not 
going  to  be  brow-beaten  into  being  good,  especially  by  the  sex  that  has  hitherto 
been  styled  the  '  gentler  ; '  and  we  don't  much  wonder  at  it.  To  come  and  for- 
cibly take  possession  of  a  man's  place  of  business,  and  insist  upon  prajnng  and 
"inging  him  out  of  it,  may  have,  at  bottom,  a  very  commendable  motive  to  insti- 
gate it ;  but  there  is  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  of  doing  every  thing.  This  is  the 
(vrong  way.  Now,  in  his  '  New  Crusade,'  Mr.  Hale  gives  us  the  clew  to  a  mucli 
better,  more  reasonable,  and  altogether  more  popular  way  of  exalting  the  aodai 
Status  in  any  given  community." 


Sold  everytuhere  by  all  Booksellers,    Mailed^  postpaid^  op 
ihs  Publishers^ 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS,  Boston. 


Messrs,  Roberts  Brothers*  Publtcaftom. 


IN   HIS  NAME. 

A  Slory  of  the  Waldenses,  Seven  Hundred  Years  Apo. 

By  E.  E.  hale. 

Square  i8mo.      Price  $i.oo. 


From  the  Liberal  Christian. 
"One  of  the  most  helpful,  pure,  and  thoroughly  Christian  books  of  which  ^po 
have  any  knowledge.  It  has  the  mark  of  no  sect,  creed,  or  denomination  upon  it, 
but  the  spirit  pervading  it  is  the  Christly  spirit  .  .  .  We  might  well  speak  of  the 
aumors  great  success  in  giving  an  air  of  quaintness  to  the  style,  befitting  a  story 
or  life  'seven  hundred  years  ago.'  We  do  not  know  exactly  what  lends  to  it  this 
flavor  of  antiquity,  but  the  atmosphere  is  full  of  some  subtle  quality  which  removes 
the  tale  from  our  nineteenth  century  commonplace.  In  this  respect,  and  in  its 
dramatic  vividness  of  action,  *  In  His  Name,'  perhaps,  takes  as  high  a  rank  as  any 
d  Mr.  Hale's  literary  work." 

From  the  N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser, 
"A  touching,  almost  a  thrilling,  tale  is  this  by  E.  E.  Hale,  in  its  pathetic  sim- 
plicity  and  its  deep  meaning.  It  is  a  story  of  the  Waldenses  in  the  days  when 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  and  his  splendid  following  wended  their  way  to  the  Cni- 
tades,  and  when  the  name  of  Christ  inspired  men  who  dwelt  in  palaces,  and  men 
•ho  sheltered  themselves  in  the  forests  of  France.  'In  his  Name'  wa.s  the 
Open  Sesame '  tc  the  hearts  of  such  as  these,  and  it  is  to  illustrate  the  power  of 
this  almost  magical  phrase  that  the  story  is  written.  That  it  is  charmingly  writ- 
«n,  follows  from  its  authorship.  There  is  in  fact  no  little  book  that  we  have  seen 
of  late  that  offers  so  much  of  so  pleasant  reading  in  such  little  space,  and  coo- 
Tcys  so  apt  and  pertinent  a  lesson  of  pure  religion." 

**TIic  very  loveliest  Christmas  Story  ever  written.     It  has  the  ring  ol  an  old 
Troabadour  in  it." 

Sold  everywhere  by  all  Booksellers,    Mailed^  postpaid^ 
Py  the  Publishers f 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS,  Boston. 


& 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBI 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped 


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